


When everything falls into place

by chaos_monkey



Category: Midsomer Murders - All Media Types
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Dirty Talk, Exhibitionism, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fantasizing, Feels, Fingering, Hand Jobs, Het and Slash, Lust, M/M, Male Slash, Masturbation, Minor Power Play, Multi, Mutual Pining, My First Fanfic, Not My Fault, Not so accidental Voyeurism, OT3, Oral Sex, Porn with Feelings, Sex, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2019-11-06 00:17:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 42,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17929133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaos_monkey/pseuds/chaos_monkey
Summary: Barnaby and Jones get stuck working late at the station one night, much to everyone's eventual delight.





	1. A long day

**Author's Note:**

> Work is complete! There are a few references to specific episodes but no actual spoilers until the final 2 chapters.  
> (Oh, and the writing quality improves as it goes.. I swear!)

“Of all the days to forget my blasted keys,” John Barnaby muttered to himself as he trudged back into the station. He glanced at the clock on the wall and groaned. Already past midnight. This day was never going to end. The DCI nodded to the officers at the front desk on his way to the lifts. Causton police station was still bustling with activity down here, but the upper floors and offices were deserted at this hour.

Tired though he was, Barnaby’s thoughts turned back to his ongoing case as he pressed the button for the lift, noting idly that one was still out of order. He and Jones had been prodding and questioning all day - for most of the week, in fact - but still hadn't made any real progress. _What is it with Midsomer county_ _,_  he wondered wryly, _that everyone seems to be allergic to telling the truth?_

Through his musings, it dawned on Barnaby that the lift still hadn't moved. Sighing, he turned toward the stairs instead. Probably the night janitor, blocking the lift on each floor as he worked his way down. Normally that wouldn't matter, but with the other one out of order… well, at least the little cubby of an office he shared with Jones was only a couple floors up.

As he climbed, Barnaby found himself thinking about his sergeant. He hadn't been too sure at first that inheriting his cousin's partner would work out. Poor Jones had been completely blindsided by Tom’s retirement, and it had made for a rocky beginning to their working relationship. Fortunately, the sergeant had come around before too long and Barnaby had seen why his cousin spoke highly of the man. Admittedly, Jones still had a few things to learn, but he had real talent and all in all was as good a DS as anyone could hope to have.

_Not to mention he_ is _rather easy on the eyes,_ Barnaby thought with a smirk. As a rule, he tried to avoid thinking too much about his sergeant in that way, but he wasn't always terribly successful. Right now, he couldn't seem to stop his imagination from wandering back to Jones. Barnaby figured it must be the fatigue getting to him, lowering the barriers he normally kept up to remind himself that he was Jones’ superior officer, that he shouldn't think about Ben’s beautiful eyes and the shape of his mouth when it quirks up into one of those sweet, unguarded smiles, that he shouldn't be imagining how Ben’s strong yet slender hands would feel against his skin, sliding up under his shirt, and…  _damn it all._

Barnaby shook his head and mentally chided himself, not for the first time. _It's not going to happen. S_ _o just stop thinking about it._  Not everyone was quite as… adventurous as he and Sarah were, and all the evidence so far said Jones was as straight as they came. Although… he and Sarah _had_ both noticed Jones shooting her appreciative glances when he thought neither of them was looking. Maybe he would be interested in joining them sometime.

Barnaby paused at the door exiting the stairwell, envisioning some of the extracurricular activities the three of them could get up to together. Jones would probably only want Sarah, but still… Images tumbled through his mind, one after another, of Ben and Sarah, kissing, touching, fucking, while John watched. He knew Sarah would get off on that as much as he would, and he couldn't help wondering if Ben would too. Tired as he was, he could feel himself getting hard at the thought. Flushed and breathing heavily, and not just from climbing those bloody stairs, Barnaby closed his eyes and groaned, resting his forehead against the cool metal of the door.

“Get a hold of yourself, John,” he told himself sternly. He'd been over this in his own mind before. He was Jones’ direct supervisor, and as such, nothing would happen unless the other man initiated it. And given Jones’ apparent orientation and rather conservative views when it came to sex, well, that wasn't likely to happen any time soon. _You've wasted enough time daydreaming like a horny teenager,_  Barnaby thought firmly as he pulled open the door and made his way towards his office. It was well past time he headed home for a quick shower and bed.

The whole floor was quiet and dark. Most of the lights were programmed to shut off overnight, with only a few scattered lights kept on for safety. Everyone else had already left. Except… as he neared his office, Barnaby noticed there was still a light on, shining softly out through partially closed blinds. As he approached and got a better angle on the doorway, he was surprised to see that Jones hadn't left yet. _He must have had more to finish up than I realized._  Barnaby hesitated, chewing on his lower lip. He didn't quite feel up to facing his sergeant in this state, with his recent fantasies about the other man still fresh in his mind and his resulting hard-on not entirely subsided.

Jones was sitting in his office chair in the middle of the tiny room. His suit jacket and tie were in a careless heap on the desk beside him and the top several buttons of his shirt were undone. As Barnaby watched, belatedly thinking this was maybe not the best way to get rid of his erection, Jones rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair with a sigh, then closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head. _He looks so tired. I'll just give him a minute, then I'll go in, get my damn keys, and make sure he heads home and gets some rest._  Barnaby wasn't sure he could trust himself around Jones just yet anyway. What he really wanted to do right then was to go in there and take Ben in his arms, run his own hands through that dark hair, rub some tension out of Ben’s shoulders, and then bring him home to bed.

A minute or two passed and Jones didn’t move, except for the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Just as Barnaby was thinking his sergeant must have fallen asleep in his chair, Jones let out a soft moan, barely audible, and shifted his hips in a way that made the watching DCI’s breath catch. Standing stock still and hardly daring to breathe in case Jones heard him, Barnaby told himself it was just his imagination, he was exhausted, he already had dirty thoughts in his head, and - Jones moaned again. Slightly louder this time. And definitely, deliberately, thrust his hips upwards in a slow, sensual movement. Arousal flooded hot and sharp through Barnaby’s gut, and he almost moaned out loud himself.

Completely unaware he had an audience, eyes still shut, Jones slid one hand across his chest and down along his stomach. Barnaby knew he should do something, he should leave, or make some noise as though he'd just walked in and hadn't seen anything, he should do anything other than just stand there staring, but he couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes away from his sergeant’s hand as it moved over the thin fabric of his shirt. Jones’ hand continued on its path, slipping down past his belt, and Barnaby heard him suck in a sharp, hissing breath through his teeth as he pressed his hand down onto the bulge at his crotch.

Barnaby could feel the hot stiffness of his own cock straining against his clothing as he watched Jones start slowly rubbing himself through his suit trousers. The sergeant’s hips rocked up gently in rhythm to grind his erection into his hand, mouth opening slightly as his tongue flickered out to wet his lips. Barnaby could just faintly hear the rustle of Jones’ hand sliding against fabric, and found himself moving silently forward, listening intently. He was almost painfully hard already, and his cock gave an eager twitch when Jones broke his rhythm, thrusting up hard into his palm with a gasp and a whimper. Jones brought his other hand down and Barnaby swallowed hard as he heard the unmistakable jingle of a belt being undone.

“Ohhh fuck,” Jones groaned softly as he slipped a hand into his trousers and starting stroking himself. Barnaby was close enough that he could hear Jones panting slightly, could see the sergeant’s teeth biting at his bottom lip as the movement of his hand sped up, slowly but steadily. _This is crazy,_  Barnaby thought. _What the hell am I doing? Any second now he's going to look over and see me, and then what?_ He started backing away, turning to leave, but had only gone a few steps when Jones spoke, nearly giving him a heart attack.

“Oh god, yes… just like that, sir.” Barnaby froze in his tracks and looked back. His sergeant was still lounging back in his chair, eyes closed, long legs spread wide. He was still stroking his cock, and faster now. He'd pushed his shirt up and his free hand splayed across his belly, the muscles in his stomach tightening with the occasional thrust of his hips. And he had just said ‘sir’ in the same way, the same tone that Barnaby heard every day. For a second Barnaby thought he might come, untouched, right then and there.

“Fuck yes…” Jones groaned, “take me, sir, please… I want you, John.” Barnaby couldn't walk away after hearing that. _Fuck it,_  he thought, as he threw sense and caution out the window and walked towards his sergeant. Jones was breathing hard with his head tilted back and mouth open, making little whimpering gasps, his body quivering as he almost desperately stroked his cock under his clothes.

“Ohhh god yes, John, fuck me, sir, harder, please, I'm so close… I need… I'm gonna -”

“Come for me, Jones,” Barnaby growled as he pressed the length of his rock hard erection up against Ben’s shoulder, twining his fingers into Ben’s hair and gently tugging the sergeant’s head back further. Ben’s eyes flew open in shock and fastened on John’s, and he cried out wordlessly as he came hard, his whole body shuddering as release tore through him.

Barnaby held his eyes for a long moment, feeling his sergeant twitch and quiver against him, then leaned down and met Ben’s lips with his. Jones melted into the kiss, mouth warm and wet and willing, his soft moans from the aftershocks of orgasm muffled between them. The rest of the world receded like a dream, all the thoughts and worries of his rational mind dissipating like mist on the wind, and Barnaby couldn't say how long he lost himself in that moment, in the sweet mouth of his sergeant.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it :) Please, please feel welcome to leave a comment. This is my first fanfic ever, and feedback would be very helpful! Also I am not from the UK so do let me know if I've used any awkward or odd choices of words.
> 
> Chapter 2 is currently in the works, with a few more hopefully to come if the inspiration keeps flowing. Tags to be updated as I go. This story is not set at any point in the series in particular, though for broader context I'm partway though season 15 at the moment.


	2. A late night

****_That's it, I am done for tonight,_ Ben Jones thought, dropping the last of the day’s paperwork onto the messy pile on his desk. _The filing can wait till tomorrow._ Barnaby had left already - maybe ten minutes ago? Twenty? - taking the old case file they'd been going through back down to the basement on his way out. Jones had been vaguely aware of hearing the lift arrive once or twice since then, and had just heard the distant thump of the stairwell door closing a moment ago. Everyone else had gone, leaving him the last one still working on the entire floor. Pushing his chair back, he checked the time on his phone and groaned. Past midnight already.

Outside his little alcove, everything was dark and quiet. Peaceful. With a tired sigh, he rubbed his face with both hands and ran them through his hair, lacing his fingers behind his head as he leaned back in his chair. Eyes closed, Jones relaxed a bit for what seemed like the first time in days. It had been a long week already, and it wasn't even over yet. Still, it hadn't been all bad. Jones was proud of his work lately, rarely feeling like he was in over his head anymore. Overall he thought he'd really been doing quite well, and as far as he could tell, Barnaby seemed to think so too.

Jones had to admit to himself that he cared, rather a lot, about what the DCI thought of him. Not just because of how it would affect his career, though of course that was important. No, despite his initial misgivings after Tom’s retirement, Jones had been pleasantly surprised to find he actually _liked_ John Barnaby. Professionally, he had turned out to be just as good a detective as Tom had been, and on a personal level, John had soon felt more like a friend than Tom ever had. Tom had definitely been more… parental. An authority figure, a role model to look up to and emulate. Not that there was anything wrong with that, and he still missed Tom, but Jones was enjoying working with someone on a bit more of an equal footing.

And… well, Jones was finding it more and more difficult to ignore that when he wasn't paying attention, his feelings for John Barnaby had somehow grown past simple friendship and respect. As they'd become closer, Jones found himself yearning for more. He did his best to push those thoughts aside, reminding himself that not only was Barnaby his boss, the man was also very obviously quite happily married. Unfortunately, this train of thought had a definite tendency to backfire on him. Thinking about John and Sarah together tended to lead to thinking about John and Sarah _together,_ leaving Jones rather warm under the collar and unsure which of the two he was more envious of.

Sarah was not only gorgeous, she had a vibrant passion for life, and it came through particularly strongly around John. Barnaby himself was much more reserved, but Jones had started to recognize the same passion in him as well as he got to know his DCI better. What he wouldn't give to see one of the inspector’s subtly heated looks directed at him… the image that sprang into his mind of Barnaby stepping close, eyes promising he was about to get even closer, sent a sudden wave of heat pulsing through Jones’ groin. The sergeant twitched and a low moan escaped his lips.

He knew he should stop thinking about Barnaby like this, but he was too worn out to fight it tonight. His brain went right on imagining the feeling of John’s hand on the back of his neck, pulling him close, of John kissing him deeply while sliding his other hand up the small of Jones’ back, pressing their bodies tightly together. Jones moaned again, feeling his cock stiffen and his hips move almost of their own accord, wishing he was actually thrusting himself up against his DCI instead of only the empty air.

Jones trailed a hand down to his rapidly growing erection, drawing a sharp breath of both relief and need at his own touch. He rubbed himself slowly, desire mounting, too tired and too horny to care that he was still at work. Picturing John touching him like this instead sent an electric jolt of pleasure through the sergeant, making him thrust up hard into the pressure of his hand with a whimper of need. _To hell with it,_ he thought, reaching down to undo his belt. _No one is here, and if anyone does show up I'll hear it._ He left his fly done up though, just to be on the safe side. Reaching into his trousers, Jones groaned as he wrapped his fingers tightly around his aching cock.

“Ohhh fuck…” Thoughts, images, memories and fantasies flooded Jones’ head and merged into one another as he stroked himself. Memories of Barnaby coming to speak to him as he got out of the car blurred into John shoving him back against the car door and kissing him fiercely. A memory of the DCI leaning in when Jones showed him a printout here in the office earlier that day morphed into John leaning in to kiss him and nuzzle at his neck, running a warm hand up the inside of Ben’s thigh before opening his zipper and stroking him, making Jones pant with want and need in reality and in his mind alike.

“Oh god, yes… just like that, sir.” Jones lost himself in the fantasy, pumping his cock harder as he imagined John was there with him, tearing his clothes off, lowering him onto his back, positioning himself between Jones’ spread legs, before leaning down to kiss him, bite at his neck, stare into his eyes asking softly _do you want it, Ben? Tell me what you want._ “Fuck yes…” Jones groaned, “take me, sir, please… I want you, John.”

Jones’ tension and need were building almost unbearably within him, his mind awash with images of his DCI taking him right there on the floor, thrusting deep inside him, filling him, completing him. “Ohhh god yes, John, fuck me, sir, harder, please, I'm so close… I need… I'm gonna -”

“Come for me, Jones,” growled John's familiar voice, and there was a hand in his hair, tilting his head back, and a warm body pressing up against him. Ben’s eyes flew open and he was staring straight into John’s, reality and fantasy were crashing together, and then Ben was crying out, coming so hard his head spun, his cock throbbing in his hand, slick heat spurting onto his skin. He could feel John's hot, hard length against his arm as the orgasm ripped through him, pleasure shuddering up and down his entire body. John leaned down and kissed him, mouth hot and needy and it just felt so _right,_ Ben thought he might pass out from sheer bliss. He opened up to John’s tongue without hesitation, moaning into John’s mouth, still trembling, quivering from the intensity of his release.

As the echoes of orgasm subsided and Jones came back to himself, he returned the kiss, eager, exploring John’s mouth with his own, tasting what he'd only dreamt of until now. He felt John respond, felt as much as heard the low sounds of need the DCI made deep in his throat. Ben took John’s bottom lip between his teeth, biting gently, and was rewarded with a husky groan. As he let go, Barnaby straightened up again. Untangling his fingers from Jones’ hair, he cupped Ben's face in his hand instead and gazed into the sergeant’s eyes. Ben could feel the dampness of his own sweat on John’s hand against his cheek. Not looking away, he nuzzled into his DCI’s palm, open lips brushing against John’s thumb. Jones felt Barnaby twitch in response, the motion making him acutely aware of John’s hot and very hard cock where it was pressed up against him again. “What about you, sir?” Jones asked, slightly surprised to find himself capable of speech at all.

Barnaby looked down at him, eyes half-lidded with desire, lips red and swollen from Ben's own. “What about me… Jones?” he responded with a quiet smile, fingers playing against the side of Ben’s neck. Jones shivered at the light touch, feeling incredibly bold and incredibly nervous at what he was about to do. He quickly wiped his hand off as best he could before withdrawing it from inside his trousers. Twisting slightly, Jones brought his arm around and rested his hand on the outside of John’s thigh in a tentative caress.

“Well, you, um…” Ben cleared his throat, “you look as though you could use a hand with that. Sir.” Heart pounding, Jones nodded pointedly down to where Barnaby’s hard-on was nestled against his upper arm. Jones felt Barnaby quiver and push slightly harder against him, heard a small noise that sounded suspiciously like a stifled whimper. But the DCI took a small step back and gently tipped Jones’ head up by the chin, looking at him seriously. Ben felt a split second of panic. _Shit, shit_ _I went too far, I shouldn't have -_

“Only if you want to, Ben. I -” Barnaby sounded… uncertain? Nervous? “Before we go any further - _if_ we go any further, I just... I need you to know that I would never -” Barnaby paused again, still looking at him intently. “You don't have to do anything with me that you don't want to, ever. Whatever happens - or doesn't happen -  between us will not affect your job in any way.”

Jones stood up, taking John’s hand. “I know that, s-. I mean, I trust you John,” he said, looking Barnaby straight in the eyes. “I know you wouldn't do that. And - I do. Want to, I mean. With you,” he finished awkwardly, blushing. Visibly relaxing, Barnaby pulled him close and that mischievous little grin of his pulled up at the corners of his mouth.

“Glad we got that sorted out then, Jones. Of course, if you _did_ want me to give you orders outside of work too, well… that could be arranged, you know.” Jones felt himself blushing even harder as Barnaby’s words set his blood burning all over again. Without another word, he pressed his mouth to John’s, pushing him backwards until the inspector’s back hit the doorway of their office in a clatter of blinds. Barnaby grunted at the impact. “Oh Christ, Ben,” he groaned, slightly breathless, “you don't know how much I've wanted this.”

Jones raised his eyebrows. “I think I may have some idea, sir,” he said, then kissed John deeply, their tongues twining, teasing, exploring. Jones felt his DCI pushing his trousers down to sit low on his hips, hands warm and strong, thumbs teasing at the skin just under his waistband. Ben reveled in the feeling of John’s body pressing into his own, John’s arousal hot and hard against his exposed hip. Fumbling between them, he wrenched open the inspector’s belt with one hand and shoved John’s shirt up and and out of the way with the other, making John gasp, his breath hot in Ben’s mouth. As he undid John’s fly, John slid his hands up Ben’s back, bunching his shirt up over his ribs. Ben whimpered at the feel of John’s bare skin hot against his own as the DCI pulled him close. He broke the kiss to look down, twisting back slightly to one side to give himself room, sliding one hand around to rest on John’s lower back and the other into John’s open trousers.

John buried his face in Ben’s neck with a long, low moan as the sergeant’s hand found his cock. Ben stared down, transfixed by the shadowed form of his hand moving between them as he slid it down the full length of John’s hard shaft and back up again. He played his thumb over the head of John’s cock, swollen and slippery with precome. John shuddered against him, thrusting convulsively into his hand, grip tightening on his waist. “God, Jones… _please,_ ” he said in a strangled voice, breath hot on Ben’s neck. Jones started stroking him in earnest, the movement shifting Barnaby’s clothing down until… _oh god,_ he could see John’s cock in his hand, even in the dim light. Moaning at the sight, Ben pulled John’s body tightly against his. John responded instantly, thrusting up sharply into Jones’ grip and Ben gasped as the tip of John’s cock hit the bared skin of his stomach just above his low-slung trousers.

“Oh fuck, Ben, I'm almost there,” John panted against him. Jones raised his head, nipping at John’s neck, breathing in John’s scent, pumping John’s cock just like he'd done to himself only minutes ago. “Fuck… yes… yes -” John was panting, shaking, and then he thrust once, hard, into Ben’s hand, body going rigid and spasming as he spent with a guttural moan. Ben whimpered, knees going weak as he felt the sudden hot stickiness on his skin where John was pushed up against his stomach.

Trembling against him, John drew a deep, shuddering breath, then let it back out again as he lifted his head from Ben’s shoulder. Ben kissed him gently, then put his forehead to John’s and closed his eyes. For a long moment they stood entwined like that, flushed and sweaty, breathing each other in, Barnaby leaning back against the doorway and Jones leaning against him.

Feeling his DCI shift, Jones lifted his head. John returned his gaze, then pulled back slightly and they both looked down at the mess on Ben’s hand and stomach. Pulling his hand free, Jones held it awkwardly out to one side and looked back up at Barnaby, suddenly shy.

“Oops,” said John, with an attempt to look innocent that completely and utterly failed, and Ben felt giddy laughter welling up inside him. Barnaby’s lips were twitching and Jones tried to stifle a giggle but only succeeded in snorting with laughter instead. Barnaby chuckled and gave him a quick kiss. “Hang on, I've got tissues somewhere in my desk,” he said, leaning past Jones to rifle through the drawers with one hand. Finding what he was looking for, he tossed the box onto the desk before pulling out a handful and offering them to the sergeant. Jones wiped himself off as best he could, fumbled his clothes back into some semblance of order with fingers that no longer seemed inclined to listen to him, then dropped back down into his chair, heaving a long sigh.

“Everything alright, Ben?” Barnaby asked, pausing partway through tucking in his shirt, that little concerned furrow in his brow. Jones looked up at him with a sleepy smile, feeling more relaxed and content than he had in ages.

“Everything is perfect, sir.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it ^_^ I'd love to hear what you think! I hadn't originally intended to have *quite* so much overlap with the first chapter, but it worked out so well I had to keep it.
> 
> I still have some more "research" to do first (i.e. watch more seasons, what a shame...), but I am planning more installments in the future ;)


	3. A busy week

John Barnaby woke up to sunlight streaming into the room. Turning his alarm off, he stretched, not fully awake yet, wondering why he still felt tired. _Oh, right,_ he thought, a smile spreading lazily across his face as he remembered the late night at the station with Jones. The bed was empty beside him and he could smell fresh coffee. He climbed out of bed and shrugged into his dressing gown, the last events of the previous night turning over in his mind.

After Jones had given him that quick but rather spectacular handjob in their office, they had both gathered up their belongings and headed towards the exit. They’d gotten halfway to the stairs before Jones had stopped dead in his tracks and exclaimed “Sarah!” Barnaby chuckled at the memory; he’d been wondering when his marriage would finally occur to the sergeant. To his credit, the man had looked positively stricken.

“What about her, Jones?” he’d asked with a straight face.

“I… shit. I’m so sorry, I - I didn’t even think about…” Ben trailed off. “I should never have made you -”

John had cut him off right there. “I do believe I am capable of making my own decisions, Jones. You didn’t ‘make’ me do anything,” he said firmly.

“But what will you do?”

“Well, I imagine I’ll take full responsibility for my actions and tell her what I did with you.” Barnaby paused, then took pity on his forlorn sergeant. “I also imagine I’ll tell her how talented you are with your hands and how stunningly hot you look when you come.”

Ben had just stared at him, mouth hanging open. Barnaby smiled. “She'll be jealous she missed it. We usually share, so I rather think I'll have to make it up to her somehow.” Turning to continue towards the stairs, he'd added over his shoulder, “Or if you like, we can make it up to her together.”

He’d made it most of the way to the stairwell door before hearing Ben hurrying to catch up with a cry of “Wait - together? Sir?!”

Yawning, John headed downstairs, having stopped to use the bathroom and brush his teeth. Sarah was on the couch in her pajamas with Sykes curled up next to her, sipping her coffee, poring over the sheaf of papers in her hand. “You’re busy early this morning, love,” he said, heading to the kitchen.

“Mmm,” she replied. “Had a few things that needed finishing up.” John poured himself a cup of coffee, then joined her on the couch.

“Going well?” he asked, shuffling Sykes out of the way and taking the dog’s place next to Sarah.

She nodded distractedly. “Almost done.” John closed his eyes with a contented sigh and sipped at his coffee while Sarah finished her work. When she tossed the stack of papers onto the low table, he put an arm around her.

“Morning, you,” he said, kissing her forehead.

“Morning yourself,” she said, cuddling into him. “You look tired. Late night?”

He nodded. “Mm-hm. And a very interesting one, in fact.”

Sarah looked up at him. “Oh, really? And how’s that?”

“Do you remember when we agreed what a pity it is that Ben doesn’t seem to be the… um… adventurous type?” he asked.

“Yes…” she said, drawing the word out, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

“It seems we may have… underestimated one Detective Sergeant Jones,” he said, feeling himself blush as the memory of Ben shoving him up against the doorway to their office and practically tearing his clothes open popped into his head.

Sarah sat up straighter. “John Barnaby, what _have_ you been getting up to?” she asked in mock outrage, a slight smile on her face.

John cleared his throat. “Well, our Ben is a very good kisser, as it turns out,” he said mildly. “Among other things.”

Sarah looked at him indignantly. “Without me? John!”

“I know, I know. It was an accident.” At Sarah’s skeptical expression, he amended, “I mean, it didn’t _start_ on purpose.” She laughed, and he leaned in to kiss her. “Don’t worry,” he said, heat creeping into his voice, lightly stroking her arm, “I fully intend to make it up to you.”

“Mmm, I like the sound of that,” she replied, snuggling up against him again. “Now. Details.”

John recounted, in full, the events of the previous night that had culminated in him and Jones going at each other in their office like a pair of hormonal bloody teenagers, ending with the somewhat confused sergeant catching up to him in the stairs. “So, I explained to him the nature of our relationship - yours and mine, that is - and suggested that he and I together might be able to make things up to you at some point. If he was interested, of course.”

Sarah grinned. “And was he interested?”

“He was _definitely_ interested,” John said. “I thought he was going to fall down the stairs.”

Sarah laughed again and shook her head with a smile. “I wish I could've seen that…” She paused thoughtfully, flushing slightly as she licked her lips, and John knew she didn't mean the discussion on the stairs. She twisted to look up at him, heat in her eyes. “You know, I don’t have to get ready to leave for at least another half hour, if you wanted to get a head start on ‘making it up to me’.”

John smiled. “Mmm… I’m sure I can think of something,” he answered as they stood up.

Leading him upstairs, Sarah added with a wicked grin, “And you can tell me again all about Ben’s hidden talents.”

 

~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~

 

Ben Jones sat back in his chair with a sigh. “Cheers,” he said, lifting his glass towards Barnaby. Downing it in one, he grimaced as the whiskey burned its way down his throat to settle warmly in his stomach. They'd finally closed out this latest case, after two more murders and an attempted third. Jones shook his head. _The things people kill each other over._ He'd never understand it.

Next to him, Barnaby set his own glass down on his desk with a sharp click. “Quiet in here tonight, isn't it?” The sergeant looked around, realizing with a start the two of them seemed to be the only ones still there. “I'd say we're finally off the clock on this one, Jones, wouldn't you?” Barnaby asked, picking up the small bottle of whiskey and topping off his drink.

“I hope so, sir,” Jones answered, holding out his glass for a refill. Their eyes met and Ben couldn't stop the slow smile that spread across his face as he remembered the last time they'd been here alone. Barnaby gave a knowing chuckle and leaned back in his chair, putting the bottle away and closing the drawer with a thump. Feeling himself flush, Jones took a gulp of the fiery liquid, coughing when it was rather bigger than he'd intended.

Nearly a week had passed since that night, and Ben still felt a thrill every time he thought of it. Which was, well, pretty frequently. Part of him still couldn't quite believe it had really happened, even after their discussion in the stairs on the way out afterwards. Especially after their discussion in the stairs, actually. Jones loosened his collar, thinking about what John had explained about his and Sarah’s relationship, about how they _both_ wanted Ben, about how he was more than welcome to join them if he was interested... It was, quite literally, his wildest dreams come true, and the revelation that the two of them occasionally talked about him, like _that,_ had had him suddenly questioning his own refractory period.

Following Ben’s rather wide-eyed confirmation, that yes, he was most definitely very interested, John had matter-of-factly asked how often Ben got himself tested, informing him that Sarah was on birth control and that they both got checked any time one or both of them had another partner. Jones had never thought he'd be glad he hadn’t gotten laid in awhile, but since it meant he hadn't actually been with anyone since his most recent clean bill of health, well… talk about your silver linings.

Of course, he'd been nervous as hell before work the next morning, sure that things between him and John would suddenly be awkward. Or worse. But… they weren't. At all. He'd never been in a situation remotely like this before, yet somehow, after the initial shock of _oh my god this is really happening,_ it just felt… normal. For the most part, nothing had changed between him and John. Ben found himself reassured by the little things that _had_ changed though, the occasional warm look they shared or the casual physical contact that hadn't been there before. Nothing that anyone else would notice, but enough to keep him feeling close to John despite them being far too busy with the case to pursue anything just yet.

Ben had even seen Sarah a couple of times, briefly, at their house. He’d gotten nervous all over again when he went to pick John up one morning and realized this would be the first time he saw Sarah since… since that night. _Since her husband came all over you in his office, you mean._ The stray thought had floated through his head unbidden, nearly causing him to crash the car as he turned onto their street. Making it to their front door without further mishap, he'd steeled himself before knocking, worried but not entirely certain what about. But when Sarah had opened the door, she'd given him her usual warm smile, then - making his stomach flip and his ears burn - she'd also given him a lingering kiss on the cheek, followed by an utterly blatant once-over from head to toe with those dark, penetrating eyes. _Come on in Ben, make yourself at home. John’ll be down in a minute,_ she'd said, then winked at him, called a goodbye to John up the stairs, and left for work.

“Are you done, Jones, or do you want to keep enjoying that empty glass for a while longer?” John’s amused voice made Ben jump, startled out of his reverie.

“What? Oh, right. I mean, no, I'm done, sir, thanks,” Ben answered, flustered, realizing he’d just been sitting there staring into space. He hadn't even noticed he’d finished his drink. As he handed the glass back, John’s fingers brushed his own and Ben’s stomach fluttered.

He met John's eyes, finally allowing himself to get lost in their depths again after being so careful all week. Some distant part of him was aware that his heart was pounding like it was trying to break free of his chest.

“Are you busy this Saturday, Ben?” John asked, returning his gaze.

“Not really, sir,” he replied, throat suddenly dry.

John’s smile crinkled the corners of his eyes in that way Ben knew so well. “Would you like to be?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yes...to be continued ;)


	4. A sunny afternoon (Part 1)

 

Knocking on the Barnabys’ front door, Ben Jones drew a deep breath to try and calm his nervous excitement, self-consciously tugging his open jacket and shirt into place. John had told him to come by around three in the afternoon for a late lunch at their place on Saturday, to bring nothing but himself. Unsure _exactly_ what was in store for today, he'd tried to dress casual but nice. And he'd taken a very thorough shower.

Hearing Sykes bark excitedly from inside, Ben stood up straighter, smoothing his shirt again. A second later, the door swung open and Sarah smiled warmly up at him. “Ben! We're so glad you could make it, come on in.” Relieved to see she wasn't dressed up either, Ben followed her in, shutting the door behind him. Taking off his shoes and jacket, he crouched down to say hello to Sykes, who was snuffling at his shins with great interest. He heard Sarah call from the kitchen, “Do you want a drink?”

“A drink would be great,” he answered, heading for the kitchen with Sykes trotting alongside him.

“Ah, very punctual, Jones,” John commented by way of greeting, the barest hint of a smile playing around his lips. Ben glanced over at the clock on the stove and felt a blush rise in his cheeks. It read 3:01 pm. He hadn't wanted to seem rude by showing up too early or too late, so he'd just stuck with the time John had told him. Maybe he had been a little more… exact than was absolutely necessary.

“Oh hush, John,” Sarah scolded him from over by the fridge. “Don't tease the poor man.” Turning to Ben, she held up a bottle. “Ben, cider?”

Ben smiled at her. “Cider sounds lovely, thanks.”

“John?”

“No, I'll, uh, stick with beer, thank you,” John replied.

“Suit yourself.” Sarah put out a beer for John and opened up a cider for herself. “Cheers,” she said, clinking bottles with Ben.

Ben didn't recognize the name and took an exploratory sip. “Mm, wow! This is really nice,” he said, pleasantly surprised.

“I know, I love it. It's the family label of a friend of mine at the school,” Sarah explained. “It's just perfect for this weather, isn't it?”

Ben hummed his agreement as he took another swallow. It was a beautiful warm day again, sunny and bright but not too hot, and the cider was cool and crisp, with just the right amount of bite to it.

“So, what's on the menu today, love?” Sarah asked as John joined them at the counter and opened his beer.

“I thought I’d try something new today,” he answered. “Mediterranean pasta salad.”

Ben grinned around his cider as Sarah shot him a sideways look, eyebrows raised. “Oh my, how very exotic, John,” she said with a teasing smile.

John shrugged. “It looked nice and light, and it won't take long to prepare.”

Leaving her drink on the counter, Sarah put a hand on John’s shoulder as she passed. “I'm sure it will be delicious,” she said, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Why don't you two get it started then, while I take Sykes out back. Sykes!” The last was directed at the dog, who leapt eagerly to his feet and trotted to the back door.

Ben sipped his cider to give himself something to do as he watched John rummaging around in the cupboards and the fridge, piling things on the counter. His nerves had abated briefly, but were coming back now that it was just the two of them. Searching for something to say to fill the gap in conversation, he was relieved when John did it for him.

“There we go!” John said, shutting the fridge door and adding a cucumber to the pile on the counter. “I could use a hand here, Jones, if you don't mind..?” He looked at Ben, a too-innocent smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Glancing at the cucumber, Ben gulped his mouthful of cider and choked slightly, flushing. “You know, chopping the vegetables,” John added.

“Oh, right, sir.” Washing his hands at the sink, feeling his ears still burning, Ben shot a suspicious look at John, who was getting a pot of water and a frying pan heating on the stove with a tiny smirk on his face. Ben supposed the DCI’s choice of words could have been coincidence - it was a common expression, after all - but he was certain John had purposely echoed Ben’s offer of a helping hand back at the station the other week.

“Slice the onion and olives, and just chop up the rest,” John instructed him, setting down a knife and chopping block. Grateful for the distraction and the chance to do something other than just stand around, Ben busied himself with the veggies. The silence that had threatened to become awkward was suddenly companionable instead, punctuated by the thumps and bangs John made as he puttered about pulling out dishes and the like, toasting what looked like pine nuts in the frying pan and dumping pasta into the pot once the water had come to a boil. Ben felt a small thrill lurch through his stomach when John came up behind him partway through the proceedings, hand resting lightly on the sergeant’s back as he checked Ben’s chopping progress.

Sarah came back in before long, shooing Sykes away to his bed in the lounge. Ben felt another little lurch when Sarah put a hand on his arm as she sidled past him to wash up at the sink. “Mmm, it already smells good in here,” she said, peering past John into the pan he'd taken off the heat a few minutes before. Taking some dishes down from one of the cupboards, she started setting the table.

Having finished on vegetable duty, Ben picked up his cider and moved out of the way as John drained the pasta and dumped it into a large bowl. He tossed everything in together, adding some olive oil and basil at the very end. Watching him work, Ben realized he'd never even known John liked cooking. He certainly seemed to be enjoying himself, anyway. It was… really sweet, actually, seeing this side of him. Ben had a feeling that not many people got that chance.

Lunch ready, they all gathered up their drinks and sat down at the table to eat. The pasta really was quite good, and Ben relaxed further as they ate and chatted, his nervous tension draining away, some part of him quietly amazed at how comfortable he felt with these two. Sarah told them all about a big event that she would be going to in London for a few days at the end of the week, half workshop, half conference, and John mentioned he'd heard from Tom just the other day. Apparently he and Joyce were enjoying the retired life together, going on holidays, and Ben smiled as he wondered fondly just how much complaining Joyce was having to put up with on every trip before Tom would admit he was actually having a good time. He said as much, making Sarah and John both laugh, and Ben felt a warm glow that had nothing to do with the cider he'd finished.

Eventually they'd all had enough. Sarah started clearing up the dishes and Ben hopped up to help, taking a stack over to the sink. Sarah leaned down to give John a kiss on her way by. “That was delicious, honey, thank you.”

“Mm you're most welcome,” John replied, kissing her back. “And Ben helped too,” he added.

“I hadn't forgotten!” Sarah rolled her eyes and directed a smile at Ben, joining him at the sink and giving him a kiss too, on the cheek. Ben felt his heart beat faster, suddenly all too aware of how close she was standing, of her lips on his skin, soft and warm and so near his own. Sarah pulled back and met his eyes, her smile deepening as though she was reading his mind. “I'll finish clearing up and join you two in a few minutes,” she said. “See if there's anything good on the telly.”

Ben followed John into the lounge and dropped down on the couch next to him. Sykes perked up as they came in, then settled back down to sleep with a whuff of disappointment when no walk or food was forthcoming. John dug out the remote and started flipping through the channels, and at one point they ran across a show Ben recognized. “Oh no, anything but this, sir,” he said with a groan. At John’s questioning look, he explained, “It's some new crime show. Apparently it's really popular, but they just… they get everything wrong! It drives me mad.”

They watched in silence for a minute. “I… see what you mean, Jones,” John said, wincing, and changed the channel again.

As they flipped onto a cricket match, Sarah came in, cider in hand. “Scootch over,” she told Ben, shuffling him closer to John, putting a hand on Ben’s thigh as she sat down next to him. John set the TV remote down on the coffee table, then leaned back. Ben tried to focus on the match, but he was too distracted by John’s warmth against his right leg and the pressure of Sarah’s hand on his left to pay much attention to the cricket. He felt Sarah moving against him as she took a drink; then, setting the bottle down on the side table she twisted sideways in her seat towards him. Taking her hand from his leg, she trailed it up his arm instead, resting her elbow on the back of the couch, and Ben’s stomach fluttered as he felt the light touch of her fingers on the back of his neck. “You play cricket, don't you Ben?” she asked.

Ben cleared his throat. “I, uh, yeah. Well, I used to anyway,” he answered, shrugging. “Don't have much time for it these days, though.”

Sarah made a sympathetic noise and Ben’s breath hitched as she squeezed his leg with her other hand. “Oh, that's too bad.”

From his other side, John commented, “I don't know, I’ve always found there were better things to do with weekends, myself,” his tone making it all too obvious what sort of ‘things’ he was referring to.

Sarah laughed, a low, heated chuckle that had Ben blushing furiously even as he felt a grin creep across his face. “You may have a point, there,” she agreed.

Ben looked at her as she slid her hand slowly up the top of his thigh, the other still at the back of his neck, fingers toying with his hair. He felt a rush of vertigo as Sarah leaned in, his heart was thumping in his chest, he was drowning in her eyes, and then her lips were on his and he could taste the sharp bite of cider on her tongue. He kissed her back, tentatively at first, but then she didn't hold back so Ben didn't either, meeting her tongue with his, arousal flaring up like fire in his belly, his breath coming short against her mouth as he felt his jeans getting tight. Sarah pulled his hand over and onto her hip, and he took the invitation eagerly, twisting his upper body towards her and running his hand up the curve of her hip to her waist and around her back. She arched towards him, humming a soft moan into his mouth, her fingers tightening in his hair, her tongue exploring his. As he pulled her close, her other hand slipped up under the hem of his shirt, cool against his flushed skin.

He was so wrapped up in Sarah, Ben nearly forgot John was still there until he felt another hand on his right leg. Ben couldn't hold back a small whimper at the touch, and Sarah obviously heard him. She pressed herself up against him, kissing him fiercely, needy, pushing his shirt up to his chest. Making an insistent noise in his mouth, she tugged at his shirt, and as Ben sat up to give her room, she yanked it up over his head and tossed it on the floor. Sarah looked into his eyes with an almost predatory smile on her lips, the tip of her tongue running over her teeth. With a groan of desire, Ben leaned back in, kissing her deeply, sliding his hands under her shirt as she ran hers up his bare chest.

As he and Sarah explored each other, tongues twining, hands sliding over skin, Ben felt John’s hand squeeze his leg, then move slowly up the inside of his thigh. He gasped into Sarah’s mouth when John reached his crotch, hand firm on Ben’s cock where it was straining against his jeans. Sarah smiled, watching him. “Oh, I think he liked that, John,” she murmured, nipping at Ben’s lower lip with her teeth.

“Want me to keep going, Ben?” John asked from behind him, hand teasing, slow, gently rubbing him over top of his jeans.

Sitting back, Ben looked down, the sight of Sarah’s hand on his bare stomach and John’s on his erection tearing a quiet, shivering moan of want and need from his throat. Shifting his gaze over to John, he nodded mutely, and John leaned in to kiss him briefly. Pulling back, hand still moving slowly with that maddeningly gentle touch, John caught Ben’s eyes with his own. “Tell me, Ben,” he said, voice soft, intense. “I want to hear you say it.”

Ben felt his hips rock involuntarily upwards in a vain attempt to increase the pressure of John's hand on him. “God, John… more, please, sir,” he almost begged, then moaned again, louder, as John kissed him hard, simultaneously pressing his hand firmly down the length of Ben’s aching cock. As John pulled back, Sarah ran her hand up Ben’s chest and turned his head back towards her, leaning in, picking up the kiss where John had left off.

Losing himself in the heat of her mouth, Ben’s skin tingled and shivered in the wake of Sarah’s hands as they traced across his stomach, chest, shoulders. He felt John undoing his jeans, pushing them down his hips, and then John’s hand closed around his cock. Ben quivered with pleasure at the touch, dimly aware of John shifting beside him. Before he could process it, John was leaning down, head between Ben’s legs, and Ben gasped, beyond caring that he moaned loudly against Sarah’s lips, almost whimpering, as he felt John’s mouth envelop him, wet and warm, tongue teasing the head of his cock, hand sliding down the length of his shaft and back up.

“Ahhhh, fuck... John, that's -” Ben trailed off into a wordless groan, trembling, and looked helplessly at Sarah as John worked up and down his hard length, sucking him deeper on each stroke.

Sarah smiled, mouth slightly open, dark eyes smouldering as she watched him come undone under John’s mouth and hand. She leaned in, licking and biting her way up Ben’s neck, her breath hot at his ear as she told him, “He's been dying to taste you ever since he saw you in the office that night.”

Ben groaned and shuddered, closing his eyes, tilting his head back, trying desperately to hold on, to last. “Sir… wait, please - I can't… ahhh… you're going to make me come -” John’s mouth pulled off him and Ben looked down, panting, as his DCI moved down off the couch and onto the floor between his legs, hand never leaving the base of Ben’s cock.

Slowly stroking him, John stared straight up at Ben, a hungry look in his eyes. “Good,” he said, and Ben cried out, quivering, as John’s mouth closed around him once again. There was no point trying to hold back, and Ben gave himself up to it, little grunts of pleasure escaping his lips, hurtling towards his release as his cock slid in and out between John’s lips, hot and wet, and then Ben’s vision blurred as he came, moaning John’s name, hips jerking up uncontrollably as he felt John swallowing around him.

As John slowed, easing Ben down after his release, Sarah kissed him, slow but intense, and Ben tried to get his breathing back under control. He’d had talented partners before, but this… John was, well, incredible, and having two people touching him, kissing him… watching him… Ben drew a shivering breath, feeling slightly delirious.

Climbing back up next to him, John kissed him, passionate, and Ben could taste himself in John’s mouth, tangy and sharp. “That… that was…” Words failed him, but John sat back wearing an utterly self-satisfied grin. Ben had seen that expression on the DCI before, but never quite like this, and he blushed as John licked his lips.

“I know,” John answered, evidently pleased with himself.

“Mmm... John was right,” Sarah said, and he looked over at her. She was breathing a little fast too, cheeks lightly flushed, eyes bright above her smile. “You _do_ look gorgeous when you come, Ben.”

Ben hadn’t thought he could blush any harder, but somehow he did. “Sorry it was… well, I didn’t mean to be so, um, quick.”

John gave a little chuckle on his other side, and Sarah’s smile deepened. “Ben, sweetheart, we’ve got all evening,” she said. “You’ve got plenty of time to recover. That is, if you still want to…?”

Ben nodded emphatically. “Oh god, yes.”

Sarah planted a kiss on his forehead and hopped up. “Come on, let’s go upstairs. The bed is much more comfortable,” she said, taking his hand.

Tugging his jeans back up, but not bothering to actually fasten them, Ben grinned and followed John and Sarah upstairs.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 to follow shortly! It was all originally intended to be a single chapter, but ended up long enough for two. And I got too impatient to wait, so, voila! 
> 
> Please do leave a note if you're enjoying the work, comments make me a happy monkey :)


	5. A sunny afternoon (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Part 2 turned into a bit of a long chapter, hence the delay. 
> 
> It's shameless porn. Hope you enjoy ;)

 

Holding up his jeans with one hand, legs a little shaky, Ben followed Sarah and John into their bedroom. He’d never been up here before, and the first thing he noticed was the bed. It was decidedly roomy, and the top of the mattress came up to just below his hips as he stopped next to it. _That looks… useful,_ he thought, making himself blush, wondering if that was exactly why John and Sarah had chosen it. Sarah sat down on the bed, taking Ben’s hand and pulling him down with her as she scooted into the middle to lie on her side, facing him. John had gone around to the other side of the bed, and he lay down a short distance behind Sarah, propping himself up on one elbow.

“Come here, Ben,” Sarah said, pulling him close, running her hand up his arm as he joined her. Eager, but unsure how he ought to proceed from here, Ben glanced over at John and back to Sarah, hesitating as he tried to figure out what he was expected to do, what he was _allowed_ to do. He was sure there must be some kind of… protocol involved in this sort of thing, but… Sarah laughed softly, eyes bright, cupping Ben’s face in her hand and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. “It’s okay Ben, you don’t need to worry about anything with us. We both want you. We can do whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Reassured, Ben let Sarah draw him down into a deep kiss. In _this,_  at least, he knew what he was doing. Putting his hand on Sarah’s hip, Ben pulled her against him, sliding his hand up the curve of Sarah’s waist to her ribs and around to her upper back. He took Sarah’s bottom lip between his teeth, biting gently, and she shivered, her hips moving, undulating against him. Ben ran his hand down to the small of Sarah’s back; then, without breaking their kiss, Ben slipped his leg between Sarah’s and rolled them both over in one smooth motion, making Sarah gasp against his mouth as he ended up on top of her, Ben’s legs between hers and one hand still on her lower back, the other supporting his weight above her.

Ben felt Sarah smile as she made a soft humming noise of pleasure against his mouth, sliding her hands up his back, and he shivered as he felt Sarah’s nails scrape lightly along his bare skin. As Sarah opened her legs wider under him, raising her hips, Ben could feel the heat of her arousal against him even through their clothing, and he groaned softly into their kiss, pushing his hips into her crotch.

Hearing movement beside him, Ben raised his head and looked over to where John was resettling himself higher on the bed, still leaving a small gap between himself and the two of them. Ben hesitated again, glancing down John’s body, wondering why he wasn’t joining in despite the hard-on that was obvious under his trousers. Following his gaze, Sarah laughed low in her throat and he looked back at her. “You may have noticed already, at the station..?” she asked. Ben cocked his head to one side, not sure what she was referring to. “John does quite like to watch, sometimes,” she said, and Ben looked over at John again, who actually blushed slightly, shrugging a shoulder, a thoroughly dirty smile spreading across his face.

Ben hadn’t ever thought of himself as an exhibitionist, but... the implications of that statement sent a little electric thrill through him. Gazing down at Sarah, her eyes deep and dark with arousal, he felt himself stirring slightly despite his very recent orgasm. Ben groaned softly and lowered his lips to Sarah’s again, letting some of his weight settle down onto her, and Sarah opened up to his tongue with a moan, her hands gripping Ben’s waist, her legs opening wider beneath him.

Ben eventually broke their kiss to bury his face in Sarah’s neck, breathing her in, her dark hair tickling his cheek as he nipped at the skin just below her ear. Sarah arched up against him with a sharp intake of breath, her breasts pressing up against his chest as Ben kissed, licked, and bit his way down her neck to her shoulder, sliding his hands up her sides and pushing her shirt up. Sarah sat up slightly, raising herself off the mattress, and Ben pulled her shirt up over her head the way she had with his before, tossing it aside.

Kissing her deeply, Ben pressed himself back down onto Sarah, feeling the heat of her skin against his own as they moved against each other. Sarah was making short whimpers of need in the back of her throat, her breath coming faster in his mouth, the movement of her hips against him becoming sharper, more urgent. Ben slipped a hand under her waist again, holding her tight and thrusting his hips hard, once, holding the pressure against her.

“Ohh god, I want you, Ben,” Sarah moaned, her hips bucking up against him as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back. Sarah looked so good, _felt_ so good against him, Ben wanted to tear off the rest of their clothes and bury himself inside her, but he knew he wasn’t ready again yet, not so soon after John had sucked him off on the couch. And anyway, there was something else he wanted to do first. Nipping again at Sarah’s throat, feeling her quiver in response, Ben slid his hand up her back. Lifting himself off her briefly, he unclipped her bra one-handed, slipping it off her shoulders. Sarah wiggled both arms out of the straps, and Ben dropped it to one side as he kissed her again, her bare skin hot against his own, her nipples hard against his chest.

Sarah whimpered as Ben pulled his mouth off hers, then moaned as his lips found her collarbone instead. Shifting down the bed a bit, Ben slid one hand up her waist, cupping her breast in his hand as he kissed his way down her chest. Playing his thumb over her skin and onto her nipple, he took the other into his mouth, tongue flicking, swirling. Sarah’s breath hitched and she arched up against him, sliding her hands up his back. Reaching down between them, Ben unfastened Sarah’s jeans before continuing downwards, moving his lips across her stomach, tongue flickering, teasing, licking the whole way. The muscles in Sarah’s abdomen twitched and quivered under his mouth, and Ben felt Sarah’s fingers in his hair as he kissed her belly where the line of her hipbone disappeared into the top of her jeans.

“Please, Ben... don’t stop,” Sarah moaned, her hips shifting, her hand tightening in his hair. Hooking his fingers under her waistband, Ben tugged Sarah’s jeans down. Sarah raised her hips off the bed to help, curling her legs up towards herself, wriggling impatiently, and Ben was able to yank all her remaining clothes off, leaving them in a pile at the foot of the bed. Sarah’s legs on either side of him, Ben settled back down and picked up where he'd left off, only now he was able to run the tips of his fingers up the inside of Sarah’s bare thighs while he dragged his tongue down the front of her hip, angling towards her center.

Ben gently pushed Sarah’s legs open wider and she shuddered, panting, as Ben licked up between her outer lips, her taste exploding on his tongue. Spreading her open with his fingers, Ben could see her clitoris stiffened and swollen, begging for touch, and he licked at her folds, sliding the tip of his tongue inside her, exploring, tasting, teasing, making Sarah squirm under him, before flicking his tongue along her clit, hearing her cry out as her hand clenched in his hair.

“Ahhh… fuck, yes, Ben, right there,” Sarah gasped as he worked his tongue over that sweet spot, keeping her lips spread open with his fingers. Shifting his weight, Ben brought his other hand up, his own breath coming faster as he slipped two fingers into her hot, wet entrance. Sarah moaned, long and low, as Ben slid his fingers slowly in, burying them inside her, sliding them back out again just as slowly.

Lifting his head, Ben looked back up the bed from between Sarah’s spread legs, still sliding his fingers in and out of her wet heat. Sarah had her head back, one hand in Ben’s hair and the other in her own, the muscles in her stomach flexing as her hips moved in time with Ben’s fingers. Further up the bed beside Sarah, John had taken his shirt off at some point and was watching with his bottom lip caught between his teeth, rubbing himself slowly through his trousers.

“Ben… god, Ben, don't stop, it's too good,” Sarah groaned, looking down at him, her eyes only half open. Smiling to himself, Sarah’s reaction to him stoking his own arousal, Ben lowered his head again, loving the taste of her on his tongue, the feel of her hot and slick on his fingers. Taking his time, Ben explored her, licking, suckling, finding what Sarah liked by the way she squirmed beneath his mouth and tightened around his fingers.

As Sarah panted and whimpered above him, Ben slowly increased the pressure and speed of his tongue, crooking his fingers up as he fucked her with them, trying to find… _There we go,_  Ben thought to himself, pleased, as Sarah suddenly cried out above him, her hips jerking sharply. Keeping that angle, listening to her semi-coherent moans, Ben fingered her, tongue lapping, feeling Sarah’s tension build around him, her hips twitching and bucking under his mouth as he brought her closer and closer to orgasm.

“Ahh, fuck, Ben… yes... yes - ahhhh… I’m - I'm going to - come -” Sarah let out a wild, wordless cry, and Ben felt the rush of wet heat inside her as Sarah came on him, clenching around his fingers over and over, grinding herself up against his mouth, her legs shaking, her whole body shuddering above and around him. Ben kept going, not slowing until Sarah’s shudders started to diminish, bit by bit. Eventually coming to a stop, Ben gently pulled his fingers out of her, then crawled back up the bed, staying between her legs.

Sarah trembled, still panting, sliding her hands down Ben’s back and pulling him up to her, insistent, until he got high enough to kiss her. With a whimper, Sarah melted into his mouth, and Ben could feel the tremors that still wracked her body from head to toe. Ben was completely hard again by now, and he groaned against Sarah’s mouth, thrusting himself against the heat between her open legs, feeling her grind back against him. Ben’s jeans had already slipped down to his thighs, and Sarah was pushing his pants down too, her mouth on his neck. “Ahh - god… I want you in me, Ben,” she said, her breath hot at his ear.

Ben lifted himself up on one hand, reaching down with the other, guiding himself into Sarah, breath stuttering as he pressed the head of his cock against Sarah’s hot, wet entrance. Sarah moaned along with him, both of them gasping as Ben’s hard length slid into her, and she felt fucking fantastic around him, wet and hot and still taut from orgasm. As Ben slowly buried himself deep inside Sarah with a groan, John pushed himself down the bed beside them.

John ran a hand up Ben’s shoulder and Sarah buried her face against John’s chest. While Ben moved in Sarah, pulling almost all the way out before pushing back into her, John leaned in and kissed him, making Ben shudder with pleasure from the simultaneous feelings of John’s tongue in his mouth and Sarah around his cock. Ben felt, heard John humming into his mouth, groaning again as he realized John must be tasting Sarah on him, and he thrust himself harder into Sarah’s heat, feeling her hips raise up to meet him. John turned to Sarah, and she lifted her head, meeting John’s lips, moaning as John’s hand found her breast. Ben watched them kissing under him as he slid in and out of Sarah, and _fuck_ it was the hottest thing he’d ever seen.

When Sarah let her head drop back onto the bed, John pulled back and lay down beside them, apparently still content to watch. Still raised up on his arms, Ben focused his attention back on Sarah, who had her eyes closed and her head thrown back, one hand on Ben’s lower back, moving her hips in time with Ben’s thrusts. He kept his movements steady, in no hurry whatsoever for this to end. Beside them, John had opened his fly and was slowly stroking himself, panting softly, and Ben felt an unexpected spike of heat through his belly, from watching or being watched or maybe both, he wasn't sure. Moaning, he dropped down, pressing himself against Sarah as he moved inside her, and she responded, covering Ben’s mouth with hers.

Ben lost himself like that in Sarah for a time, breathing in her scent, their hands roaming up and down each other, her wet heat drawing him in again and again. Then, straightening upright, taking Sarah under the hips, Ben hoisted her up with him so he wouldn’t slip out of her, lifting her arse just off the bed to rest on his thighs as he sat back on his heels, knees wide under Sarah’s spread legs. Ben looked down, groaning at the view of his cock sliding in and out of Sarah, unable to keep himself from giving a sudden, sharper thrust, his grip tightening on her hips. Sarah gasped, her eyes closing, tongue on her teeth as her open mouth curved up in delight.

Repeating the motion, pausing between each hard thrust, Ben watched Sarah practically writhe in response where she was stretched out on her back in front of him. “Fuck... Sarah… you feel so good,” he groaned. Sarah opened her eyes again, gazing up at him, her mouth open and cheeks flushed with arousal, her breath coming in small gasps every time he thrust up into her. As Ben stilled for a moment, breathing hard, regaining control of himself, John leaned in towards Sarah, whispering something in her ear that Ben couldn’t hear, but whatever it was made Sarah’s face light up.

“Ohh god, yes,” she said, nodding eagerly.

Sitting up, shifting back slightly and catching Ben’s eye, John patted the bed between himself and Sarah. “Come over here and lie down, Ben.”

Ben looked between John and Sarah. “But…”

“Do I have to make that an order, Jones?” John asked, a positively evil smile spreading across his face. “Trust me.”

Flushing, Ben looked back at Sarah, who just grinned at him, moving her thumbs in small, teasing circles on his thighs. Ben reluctantly withdrew himself from her with a groaning sigh, a similar sound escaping Sarah as he pulled out.

“Up here,” John said as Ben crawled up the bed between him and Sarah, wriggling the rest of the way out of his jeans as he went, kicking off his remaining clothing. Ben turned over, lying down on his back, head and shoulders propped up on the pillows. Sarah had sat up as Ben lay down, and now she climbed on top of him, straddling his hips, facing away from him towards the foot of the bed. Legs folded under her on either side of him, Sarah took Ben’s cock in her hand and guided him inside her, lowering herself down onto Ben’s hard length with a moan. Ben gasped, gripping Sarah’s hips as she sank down onto him, enveloping him in that wonderful heat.

Sarah leaned backwards over Ben, supporting her weight with her hands on the bed to either side of Ben’s chest, rocking her hips up and down. Ben drew his legs up slightly, bending his knees, getting leverage to match the rhythm of Sarah’s hips, thrusting up into her, careful not to pull out too far. Beside them, John rolled out of bed, climbing back on at the foot of the bed instead. Watching Sarah move on top of him, sweat glistening along her spine, Ben quivered, moaning as he imagined the view John must have right now, Sarah spread open, Ben sliding in and out of her. He still didn’t know what John was up to, but he could feel John moving around between his legs, shifting, and then Sarah cried out, shaking, and Ben could feel John’s breath on the base of his cock where it was buried inside her.

As the realization hit that John was licking Sarah _while_ Ben was fucking her, the arousal that had already been building in Ben’s core suddenly flared up sharply, almost overwhelming him. Sarah was coming utterly undone between him and John, gasping, trembling, and it was all Ben could do to hold on. He knew he would never have been able to last if he hadn’t come once already, and in the back of his mind he wondered if John had done that on purpose. Focusing all of his attention on keeping his rhythm and holding Sarah’s hips as still as possible for John, Ben thrust in and out of her, panting, groaning as he desperately tried to ignore the way Sarah’s tension was building around him, the way she was crying out every time Ben thrust deep inside her.

Sarah’s heat almost unbearable around him, Ben was barely holding on; and then Sarah was shuddering atop him, gasping wordless cries as she came again, clenching tightly around Ben’s cock this time; and that was it, she pulled him over the edge along with her and Ben felt his cock pulsing as he came deep inside Sarah, crying out with her, and Ben’s entire world right then was the feel of Sarah spasming around him, her weight on him and her hips gripped tightly in his hands as they both shuddered in the throes of release.

Aftershocks trembled back and forth between Ben and Sarah, slowing, receding, and Sarah finally collapsed off of Ben, dropping down next to him on her back with a long, low moan, her eyes barely open above a hugely satisfied smile. Feeling a similar smile on his own face, Ben turned onto his side, drinking Sarah in with his eyes, idly caressing her as the sweat dried on their skin. John joined them, mirroring Ben as he lay down on Sarah’s other side.

Sarah drew in a long, shaky breath, and blew it back out in an explosive sigh. “You know what?” she asked, turning her head towards John.

John smiled, his fingers trailing up and down her arm. “What, love?”

“Ben is talented with more than just his hands,” Sarah replied with a quiet, humming laugh, covering Ben’s hand with hers where it was resting on her stomach. Ben blushed, grinning, embarrassed but immensely pleased with himself.

“Yes, I don’t think I needed to be a detective to work that out,” John said, shifting his gaze across to Ben, eyes more blue than Ben had ever seen them. Tracking his eyes down John’s body to where his trousers were undone but still on, Ben remembered with a jolt that through everything they’d done, John hadn’t actually...

Raising himself up on one elbow, Ben met John’s eyes again. “Aren’t you always reminding me how important it is to have good physical evidence, though, sir?” he asked, not quite succeeding at keeping a straight face.

Ben didn't need to be a detective either to hear John’s breath hitch, to notice his eyes flicker down to Ben’s lips before he answered, “You make a good point, Jones.” Sarah, chuckling at their exchange, shifted over, making room for Ben to swap places with her.

As Ben lay down on his side so they were face to face, John slid his hand up Ben’s back, pushing himself up against Ben, pulling him close and kissing him deeply with a low moan in the back of his throat. John’s mouth on his was urgent, needy, and Ben could feel the pressure of John’s cock against him, hot and hard, demanding attention. Ben slid his palm down John’s stomach, pushing John’s pants down to take John’s cock in his hand, stroking as he returned the kiss. John groaned, quivering, thrusting into Ben’s grip, whimpering when Ben let go again.

Shifting down the bed, Ben pushed John onto his back and worked his remaining clothes off before getting onto his knees between John’s legs, his hands on John’s thighs. Much less certain of himself now than he’d been with Sarah, who was idly tracing a hand over John’s chest as she watched, Ben hesitated briefly. John was rock hard in front of him, his skin shiny and wet with precome where his cock rested on his stomach, and it gave an eager little leap, twitching as John looked down and saw Ben studying him.

“Please... Ben...” John panted, and Ben, smiling, ran his tongue over his lips, then leaned down and licked up the entire length of John’s cock from base to tip. John gasped and his hips jerked up, cock jumping up off his belly again, and Ben slid his hands up to John’s hips to hold them down before running his tongue up John’s length again, even slower this time. John shuddered, moaning Ben’s name, his hips still trying to buck up under Ben’s hands.

Figuring he’d teased enough given how long John had already been waiting, Ben closed one hand around John’s shaft, sliding his hand all the way to the base as he took the head of John’s cock into his mouth, the taste of John’s precome covering his tongue. Groaning, John trembled underneath him as Ben slid his hand and mouth up and down John’s cock, slicking his hand with saliva as he went, doing his best to mimic what John had done to him earlier. John’s breath rapidly started coming faster in short, sharp gasps, the jerking of his hips under Ben’s other hand becoming more erratic as Ben sped up.

“Oh fuck, Ben, don’t stop, don’t stop - yes - ahhhhh - I’m coming - I’m -” John shuddered, his words dissolving into a loud gasping moan as Ben felt John suddenly get even harder in his hand, and then John was coming in his mouth, the taste of him thick and hot and sharp on the back of Ben’s throat, and Ben hadn’t quite expected there would be so _much_ of it, swallowing what he could before opening his lips and pulling his head back slightly, panting, watching John’s come run down over his hand as he kept stroking John through his orgasm, slowing as John’s tremors subsided.

Feeling a hand in his hair, Ben looked up at John, blushing, wiping his mouth on his other hand. “I’m - sorry… I, uh -” he started, but John cut him off.

“Shush, c’mere,” John said, slightly breathless, gently tugging Ben towards him. Ben crawled back up the bed beside John, not sure what to do with his sticky hand, but then John took it in his own, twining their fingers together, pulling Ben half on top of him and kissing him fiercely. John stopped long enough to look Ben in the eyes and say, “That was amazing,” before covering Ben’s mouth with his own again, this time drawing the kiss out long and slow and deep.

As they pulled apart, Ben relaxed down onto his side, John’s arm around him, gently stroking his back. Sarah was cuddled up to John’s other side across from Ben, head propped up on her hand. Ben’s hand was resting on John’s stomach, their fingers still twined together, and as Sarah laid her hand on theirs, a soft, contented sigh escaped Ben’s lips. John turned his head, looking at Ben with that quiet smile, those blue-grey eyes pulling Ben down into their depths.

“I… never actually did that before,” he found himself saying, feeling a blush rise again. “Not to… the end like that, I mean.”

“No?” John asked. Ben shook his head. “Lucky me, then,” John said, smile deepening. “And what did you think of it?”

“I… liked it, mostly,” Ben said truthfully, blushing harder. “But I should probably try it again sometime to be sure,” he added with a grin.

“Ben Jones, you really are just full of surprises,” John murmured, planting a quick kiss on his forehead.

Ben cocked his head. “Surprises?”

It was Sarah who answered him. “Well, honestly, Ben, we had absolutely no idea you... played for both teams, as they say.”

At this point, Ben was pretty sure his blush was a permanent fixture. “Yeah, I know. I don't, really. Or, well, I do, but… it's always been easier just to date women, you know, growing up here and having to worry about family and work and everything.”

John nodded in understanding, his arm tightening briefly around Ben, and Sarah gave his hand a little squeeze. “I know it's not quite the same thing,” she said, “but we do know what it's like, having to be careful who knows about us.”

“Do you… do this sort of thing a lot?” Ben couldn't help asking, curious.

John chuckled. “I guess that depends on your definition of ‘a lot’. More when we were younger, I suppose.”

Sarah added, “Back in Brighton we had some friends, another couple, who we would get together with sometimes. But when we moved here, it didn't really work with the distance, and we didn't meet anyone here either of us was particularly interested in.”

John’s arm tightened around Ben again. “Except you,” he said, and Ben felt his heart skip a beat. He snuggled tighter against John’s side, looking over at Sarah and resting his head on John’s chest.

“Lucky me, then,” Ben said softly, smiling.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There might be a wait for the next installment, I have to figure out some details for the remaining chapters.  
> BUT they are broadly planned out, so there is definitely more to come ^_^


	6. A rainy evening (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This turned into another two-parter, so here is Part 1! Just in time to start the week off :)

 

Turning onto his street, John Barnaby stifled a smile as he glanced over at his unhappy passenger. Jones was staring out the window, morose, damp hair curling over his forehead. It was a miserable evening, cold and pouring rain, and the sergeant was soaked through. They’d left the station earlier to go question a suspect after finding out he’d lied concerning his whereabouts the night of the murder, and the rain had hit in force while they were on their way. The young farm hand had been in the yard when they pulled up, and the little bastard had bolted into the field the moment he recognized them.

Jones had, of course, immediately jumped out, chasing him down through the driving rain… and then it turned out their suspect had originally lied because he’d been at a cheap motel in Causton at the time in question. With someone other than his girlfriend. They’d follow up with the motel in the morning, but the call history on his phone supported the story and Barnaby didn’t think the young man was capable of lying convincingly anyway, given his state at the time. He was high as a kite - he’d panicked and run because he’d already been busted once for possession a few months before. Barnaby had let him off with a warning, and Jones had been sulking the whole drive back.

“I still think we should have done him for obstruction, sir,” the sergeant said again as they pulled up into the drive.

“You know we’d have more than half the county locked up if we arrested everyone who wasn’t entirely honest with us, Jones,” Barnaby pointed out, turning off the car.

“That’s easy for you to say. _You’re_ not the one who had to chase him through an entire field of soaking wet… whatever that was.”

“That would be wheat, I believe,” Barnaby said with a straight face, plucking a bit of the offending plant off his sergeant’s sleeve and holding it up between them.

Jones gave him one of those looks. “Thank you. Sir. That’s _very_ helpful,” he said with a huff as he opened his door. Chuckling, Barnaby got out of the car and hurried up the walk, Jones following close behind.

Barnaby unlocked the front door and they both scooted in out of the rain. It wasn’t as warm in the house as it had been in the car, and Jones shivered as they entered. “I should probably… go home and get changed, sir,” he said. They had met up here that morning, only needing the one vehicle for the day, and the sergeant’s car was parked out front.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Jones,” John answered, shutting the door behind them both. “You can dry off a little first, at least, and we’ll get a warm drink into you before you go. Sarah would kill me if she found out I didn’t.”

Ben finally smiled at that. “How is her conference going?” he asked, kicking off his muddy shoes and removing his jacket, or trying to. Despite the heat having been turned on full during the drive back, Ben’s suit jacket was still wet enough he was having trouble wrestling his arms out of it. John couldn’t help but notice the motion was doing rather wonderful things to Ben’s shirt, stretching it tight across the sergeant’s torso as he tried to wiggle his way free.  

Motioning for Ben to turn around, John helped peel him out of his jacket. “It sounds like it’s going quite well. More interesting than she expected, apparently.”

As Ben turned back again, wet jacket held in one hand, John found his own hands lingering on his sergeant almost of their own volition, sliding up Ben’s arms and onto his chest where his damp shirt clung to him, slightly see-through. He heard Ben’s breath catch, cutting off whatever the sergeant had been about to reply. Those beautiful hazel eyes met John’s, widening slightly, and John realized he was holding his breath as he waited for Ben’s reaction.

“Does this mean we’re… off the clock, then, sir?” Ben asked, the rise and fall of his chest quickening under John’s palms.

“I think maybe we are, Ben,” John answered, holding Ben’s gaze, keeping his touch light on Ben’s chest. They’d kept things strictly professional all week, after Ben had come over Saturday afternoon and the current case had called them both out later that same evening - _none_ of them had been pleased about that - and John had had some vague idea that they should wait to continue things until the case was closed. At the moment, he couldn’t quite remember why.

“Finally,” Ben said, voice deepening, leaning forward ever so slightly against John’s hands, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a crooked smile. On the drive home, Ben had already taken his tie off and opened the top button of his shirt, and John started slowly undoing the rest, working his way down Ben’s chest one button at a time. Ben licked his lips, his eyes flickering down to John’s hands and back up to his face to look at him seriously. “Is it… okay? Without Sarah here?”

John paused with his fingers halfway down Ben’s shirt, briefly considering how best to phrase his response. He and Sarah _had_ discussed this eventuality already, following Saturday’s events. It had in fact been Sarah who had suggested that, given Ben’s relative lack of experience with men, the sergeant might appreciate the more familiar intimacy of a single partner if he wanted to explore certain activities with John in particular. But he didn’t want to presume, or put any pressure on Ben either.

“It’s entirely up to you, Ben. Either way is fine with both me and Sarah. We can wait until she gets back, or we can go ahead without her if there’s anything you want to get more… comfortable with, perhaps,” John said, unable to resist popping open one more button on Ben’s shirt as he spoke.

Ben’s posture relaxed slightly. “I’d… like that, sir,” he said with a small smile.

“Mm… I had hoped you might,” John said, returning the smile and continuing with the rest of Ben’s buttons. Sliding his hands around Ben’s bare waist, pushing the damp shirt aside, he gently pulled the sergeant against him and kissed him lightly on the lips, feeling Ben’s free hand move to his own hip. “But first, we’re getting you out of these clothes and into a hot shower. And that is an order, Jones. I won’t have you dying of hypothermia on my watch.”

As John moved to pull back, Ben’s hand slid from his hip around to his lower back, holding him in place, and Ben kissed him back, not so lightly. “Come with me?” he asked, blushing but gazing intently at John.

“I’d love to,” John replied, deliberately running his gaze down Ben’s bare torso and back up again. Ben grinned, blushing harder, and John gave him another quick kiss before turning and leading the way up the stairs.

“How’s Sykes doing away from home?” Ben asked from behind him as they climbed. John and Sarah had decided that it would be better for Sykes to stay with a friend of Sarah’s while she was in London, given that John never knew when he'd be home these days.

Reaching the top of the stairs, John turned to look back at Ben, raising his eyebrows. “It’s the _dog_ you’re thinking about right now? Really?”

“Well, I just meant… I’m used to seeing him when I’m here,” Ben protested.

John chuckled as he went into the bathroom, flicking the light on. “Sykes is doing just fine, I went to see him yesterday. I think he’s loving the extra attention, actually.” Opening the shower door, John reached in and got the water running. As he straightened up again, turning around, he felt Ben’s hands on his hips and John’s heart rate picked up as Ben pushed him backwards against the sink, his eyes trapped by Ben’s heated gaze, feeling Ben’s hands move on him as the sergeant tugged John’s tie off and then started undoing his shirt. Ben was pressed up against him, already hard, and John was more than halfway there himself.

Slipping his hands around Ben’s waist and onto his lower back, John kissed him, the sergeant’s fingers deftly unbuttoning John’s shirt in between them. “I’ve missed you, Ben,” John said softly, the words leaving his mouth before he fully realized what he was saying, and he froze as he felt Ben’s hands pause. Despite spending most of their working hours together, they couldn’t risk showing anything approaching intimacy, and John had spent the last few days feeling slightly… out of sync around Ben, like he was some other version of himself. One who hadn't been lucky enough to spend that afternoon with Ben and Sarah on the weekend. Now, worried he’d said too much, he met Ben’s eyes slowly, with a surreal feeling that time had suddenly stopped around them.

Looking back at him, Ben swallowed and said in a rough voice, “So have I… John,” and time resumed its normal course once more. Sliding a hand up Ben’s chest and around the back of his neck, John pulled Ben close, kissing him deeply, and then suddenly they couldn’t seem to get undressed fast enough. Ben finished with the last few buttons and slipped John’s shirt off his shoulders, shrugging out of his own, undoing John’s belt and fly, tugging John’s trousers down over his hips, as John did the same to him.

Finally noticing the steam building up around them, John broke their kiss, breathing hard. “I think that shower _might_ be about ready by now,” he noted dryly. Ben grinned, and they pulled apart to tug their clothes the rest of the way off.

John stepped into the shower and Ben followed him in. There was room for both of them, but… not by much. Ben pulled the door closed beside them, all tan skin and lean muscle, fully erect, and John slipped his hands onto Ben’s hips, a throb of desire running through his cock as he leaned in and kissed Ben with a quiet moan. Ben responded to him eagerly, meeting John’s tongue with his, and John felt Ben’s hands slide around to his back, pulling him close. Reaching down with one hand to adjust himself and Ben both as the gap closed between them, John pressed himself against Ben, feeling Ben’s hard heat against his stomach, moving both hands to the sergeant’s waist. Ben shivered, a small gasp escaping his lips.

“Still cold, Ben?” John asked, teasing.

“No, it’s… You - feel so good,” Ben said, flushing, his eyes flickering down, towards where John had just pushed his entire hard length up against Ben’s. Smiling, John slid his hands around to Ben’s back and then lower, to the top of his arse, pulling Ben against him and slowly moving his hips, his cock rubbing against Ben’s. Ben gasped again, quivering against him. “Ahhh… that’s…” Ben trailed off, and John buried his face in Ben’s neck, kissing, suckling, continuing to move his hips slowly the whole while, breathing in the steam, enjoying the feeling of Ben naked and wet in his arms. Ben was practically trembling against him, every breath hitching slightly in his throat. “Ahh, god, I… I want you, John,” he finally managed with a soft groan.

“You may need to be more… specific than that, Ben,” John replied, leaving Ben’s neck and catching his eyes. “I know I can think of a number of different ways I want you right now…” He kissed Ben again, briefly, tugging at Ben’s bottom lip with his teeth, feeling Ben’s hips pressing forward into him, cock hot and hard against his own. “I want to taste you again.” Ben twitched in his arms, gasping as John buried his face in Ben’s neck again, nipping with his teeth, licking the water from Ben’s skin. “I want to see you on your knees in front of me,” John breathed into Ben’s ear, pulling a moan from his sergeant as he tightened his grip on Ben’s arse, thrusting just a little harder against him. “I want to fuck you just like you were imagining that night in the station,” John said, his breath coming faster, desire flaring in his gut as he looked Ben in the eyes, pushing him up against the slick wall of the shower.

Ben shuddered against him. “God… John… I want you - I want you in me,” he groaned, running his hands up John’s back, pressing his mouth to John’s in a needy, almost desperate kiss. Kissing him back, John pulled Ben’s leg up to his own hip. Holding his sergeant steady, John slid his hand slowly back along the outside of Ben’s thigh and under his arse, and Ben gasped, moaning, when John brushed his fingers across Ben’s entrance. John explored Ben slowly, gently, pressing a finger against Ben but not into him, not yet, not while Ben was so tight, feeling his sergeant trembling against him, panting.

John wanted nothing more than to take Ben then and there, but he made himself stop, drawing a shaky breath, and Ben whimpered as John pulled his hand back to rest on Ben’s hip, letting Ben’s leg drop back down. “Ben…” he said gently, cupping his sergeant’s face in his other hand, the warm water still running down them both, “god, Ben, I want you… more than anything right now, but I need to know… have you ever done this before?”

Ben looked back at him. “I... yes, I have. But…” he trailed off, biting his lip.

“But?” John prompted softly.

Dropping his eyes, Ben shrugged. Haltingly, he continued, “I have, but… only once, years ago. It wasn’t terrible, but… well, it wasn’t great either. It was… well, quick. We just kind of… did it, and then that was it. I… never tried it again since then.” Ben glanced back up, looking away again almost immediately. John could feel Ben fidgeting, nervous, could see the tension in the line of Ben’s jaw, Ben’s pulse racing in the hollow of his throat.

John waited, gently stroking Ben’s cheek, just holding him, letting him say as much or as little as he wanted to. Taking a deep breath, Ben went on, “It just… it didn’t mean anything with him, and I realized that I… I’d rather be with someone I actually cared about. But I never got that chance until...” Ben swallowed hard, finally looking back up at John. “Until now.”

 _Oh, Ben._ John’s heart twisted in his chest. “Are you sure?” he asked. “We can wait if you’re not ready.”

Ben held his gaze steadily for a moment before answering. “I'm sure. I want this, John… with you. I've wanted you so much for… for too long.”

John swallowed hard around the small lump that had crept into his throat. “So have I, Ben,” he answered softly, voice rough. John felt Ben’s tension drain out of him at the words, practically melting in John’s arms, and John covered Ben’s mouth with his, kissing him deeply as the water ran down their skin, savouring the little moans Ben made in the back of his throat. John pulled his head back, looking into Ben’s eyes again. “There is absolutely no pressure, Ben. If you change your mind or need a break, we can stop any time.” John paused, making sure his words were sinking in before he continued, “But you have to tell me, what you want, what you don't want, if there's anything you don't like. Okay?”

Ben nodded. “Okay.”

“Good,” John said, and he felt a slow smile spread across his face as he pushed Ben back against the wall again, giving a slow thrust with his hips, drawing a quiet little gasp from his sergeant. “Because I have some ideas that I think you might like… quite a lot, in fact. If I'm right, well… we are both going to enjoy getting you good and ready. And there won't be anything quick about it this time, I can promise you that.”

John felt Ben’s fingers tighten on his back, heard Ben’s breath coming faster. “What kind of ideas, sir?”

“Mm… remember what you did to Sarah first, on the weekend?” John asked, the memory of watching Sarah come apart under Ben’s mouth and hand sending a sharp spike of arousal through him. Ben licked his lips and nodded. “Very much like that,” John said, running one hand over Ben’s arse again with a light squeeze. “So if that's something you would like to try..?” Ben’s eyes went wide and he nodded again, breath hitching. “Then you might want to wash up… thoroughly, before we use up all the hot water,” John said with a grin. “I’ll see you in the bedroom when you’re done.” He planted a quick kiss on Ben’s mouth as he opened the shower door, then slipped out, leaving Ben to it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a teaser chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it! As always, don't be shy to comment. I love feedback <3
> 
> Part 2 to follow, and as you may have guessed, it's going to be another deliciously smutty one ;)


	7. A rainy evening (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2! Happy Monday ;)

Pulling out two clean towels, John left one on the sink for Ben and dried himself off with the other as he made his way to the bedroom. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he went to the bedside table and turned the lamp on, then dug around in the drawer, pulling out the bottle of lube and leaving it within easy reach. He was still straightening up the pillows and sheets from where he'd left them in a tangle that morning when he heard a noise from behind him.

John turned around to see Ben standing in the doorway, dark hair damp and tousled, droplets of water glistening on his skin in the soft light. The sergeant had his towel wrapped around him as well, but so low on his hips it just barely covered him. He was obviously still half erect, the towel tenting slightly out in front of him. Despite having been looking at Ben completely naked in the shower a few minutes before, there was something unbearably sexy about him like this, and John just stood there staring as Ben walked over to him with a shy smile, blushing under John's gaze. Stiffening rapidly again under his own towel, John wondered, not for the first time, how his sergeant managed to look so hot and so sweet all at the same time.

“Christ, Ben… you look too good,” he breathed, and then he wasn't really thinking at all anymore as he felt Ben's hands on his chest, Ben’s lips on his and Ben’s body pressing up against him, skin hot from the shower.

John sank down onto the edge of the bed behind him, pulling Ben onto his lap to straddle his hips, Ben’s knees wide to either side of him. John slid his hands up Ben’s thighs to his arse again, pushing his sergeant’s towel out of the way as he did. Ben moaned into John’s mouth as John pulled him close, feeling Ben’s cock hardening, hot against his stomach, Ben’s weight on John’s lap, his hands on John’s shoulders.

Eventually breaking the kiss, John nipped at Ben’s bottom lip and kissed along Ben’s jaw to his neck, lowering his head down Ben’s chest to the small, hard peak of his nipple. Ben drew a sharp breath as John took it between his lips, flicking with his tongue, nipping with his teeth. Ben moaned softly and John smiled to himself as he felt Ben’s cock twitch against him. Giving one more flick of his tongue, John looked up again. “Hmm… a little sensitive, are we?” he asked, bringing one hand up to play at Ben’s other nipple.

Ben shivered, arching into it as John circled his thumb around the dark, stiffened nub. “Just a little..." Ben said with a groan, looking down at John through half-lidded eyes. John brought his hand up to his mouth and gave the tip of his thumb a quick lick and a suck, wetting it with saliva before returning his hand to Ben’s chest. Ben groaned again as John rubbed and flicked at the little peak with his thumb, then lowered his head and took the other in his mouth again. Little grunts of pleasure escaped the sergeant’s lips above him and he felt Ben gripping his shoulders, thrusting up against his belly in short, jerky movements.

Raising his head and sliding both hands around Ben’s back, John held Ben against him as he lay down, both of them shuffling further onto the bed until he was stretched out on his back with Ben still straddling his hips, hands to either side of John’s shoulders. Looking up at Ben leaning over him, John couldn't help the contented hum that welled up in him and he ran his palms up Ben’s chest, cupping his face in one hand. Ben turned his head slightly, catching John’s thumb in his mouth with a cheeky little grin, licking the tip of it suggestively as he rocked himself back and forth slightly on John’s hips.

John groaned at the sight, the feeling of Ben moving on him like that going straight to his cock despite the layers of fabric between them. Sliding his other hand back down, John gripped Ben’s hip and thrust up against him. Ben let out a little gasp and John felt the sergeant’s teeth nip at his thumb before letting go.

Ben kept moving on him, tongue playing over his teeth as he watched John, obviously enjoying the effect he was having, and John was more than enjoying it too, his hands on Ben’s hips, his cock straining against the damp towels that separated them. Slipping his hand around the back of Ben’s neck, John tugged him down into a long kiss, a small sigh escaping his lips as Ben’s body pressed against him and they moved against each other, tongues twining together.

Rolling Ben over onto his back, John thrust slowly between his legs, little shivers of desire sparking through him as he felt his sergeant responding eagerly to the movements of his tongue, his hands, his hips. Eventually, John pulled back to kneel upright between Ben’s legs, tugging both towels out of the way and tossing them to the floor. He didn't miss the way Ben’s gaze traveled down the length of his body to his erection and back up again, or the way Ben’s breathing became suddenly fast and shallow.

John smiled. “Don't worry Ben, we're not there just yet,” he said, sitting back on his heels and running his hands down Ben’s thighs to rest on the sergeant’s hips.

“We're not?” Ben asked, a mixture of regret and relief in his voice.

“Oh no. Definitely not,” John replied, still holding Ben’s hips, teasing with his thumbs, nearing Ben’s cock but not quite touching him. “You'll know when we are… because I'm not going to fuck you until you ask me to.” Ben’s breath hitched. “I might even wait until you beg,” John added, his smile deepening. Although if he was being honest with himself, he wasn't _entirely_ sure how long he would be able to hold back once Ben did ask him.

As he spoke, John had been circling his thumbs over Ben’s skin, moving closer and closer inwards, and now he ran one thumb up Ben’s hard length and over the head of his cock where he was already lightly slippery with precome. Ben moaned softly, cock twitching up off his belly, and John slid his hands up Ben’s sides, moving onto all fours above him and leaning down to kiss him again. John felt Ben’s hands run up his back, hips moving beneath him as Ben made a muffled whimpering sound into his mouth. Getting his knees under Ben’s thighs, John nudged his sergeant’s legs open wider under him, lowering his hips just enough to brush his cock against Ben’s, teasing them both.

Still on all fours, John reached over and snagged the bottle of lube off the bedside table before he shifted down the bed between Ben’s legs bit by bit, leaving a trail of licks and kisses down Ben’s body. He paused again at a nipple, drawing a gasp and a small shudder from his sergeant before continuing down Ben’s stomach and hip, teasing at the sensitive skin at the very top of Ben’s inner thigh, breathing in his clean, musky scent, letting his cheek brush against Ben’s cock.

“Ahh… please,” Ben whimpered, knees opening wider as his hips twitched upwards, and John relented, closing a hand around Ben’s stiff length and raising it to his mouth. He licked at the head of Ben’s cock, the brightly sweet taste of Ben’s precome bursting on his tongue, before taking Ben into his mouth and as far down his throat as he could, making Ben groan above him. John worked Ben’s cock until he'd gotten his own hand and Ben’s entire length well coated with saliva, then, somewhat reluctantly, he pulled his mouth off Ben, instead stroking slowly with his hand, the feeling of his sergeant’s hot, hard cock sliding smoothly in his grip further stoking his own desire.

Not stopping the movement of his hand, John shifted up the bed and leaned down on his elbow over top of Ben again, just looking at him for a moment. Ben returned John’s gaze, his lips parted, pupils dilated and cheeks flushed with arousal, making soft panting noises as John stroked his slicked cock between them.

“Mm… don't come yet,” John told him with a smirk and a kiss, and Ben let out a whimper, a small tremor running through him. John grabbed a pillow and made his way back down between Ben’s legs. “Up,” he said, patting the outside of Ben’s thigh, other hand still on Ben’s cock, slipping the pillow under Ben’s arse as the sergeant obediently raised his hips off the mattress. Ben was watching him, eyes half shut, breathing heavily, but he didn't look nervous anymore. _Excellent,_ John thought, pleased, settling down between Ben’s legs.

Lowering his head again, John licked along the inside of Ben’s thigh and up to his balls, cupping them with his tongue. Ben shivered, moaning, his hips twitching as John licked him, still stroking with his hand. Then, dragging his tongue lower and letting go of Ben’s cock, John used both hands to spread him open, pressing upwards to tilt Ben’s hips up and back at the same time, and ran his tongue down across the tight pucker of Ben’s hole and back up again.

“Oh, fuck…” Ben gasped, quivering, his hips jerking up. “John…”

“I can stop if you don't like it,” John murmured, not pulling away, knowing Ben would be able to feel the heat of his breath as he spoke.

“No, god no, don't stop… I just never had - ahhh -” Ben trailed off into another moaning gasp as John licked him again, this time with more pressure. As John continued circling his tongue around Ben’s entrance, Ben brought his legs higher in response, tilting his hips further back, and John slipped one hand back up to Ben’s cock. Occasionally stroking up and down Ben’s hard length, John worked his tongue over and around Ben’s hole, stiffening it as he licked, pressing the tip a little further into Ben on each pass. Ben was moaning above John, hips moving to meet him, and John worked his tongue inside, spearing it into Ben’s tight heat. As he moved the tip of his tongue inside Ben, he ran his thumb back and forth over Ben’s entrance, wet with saliva, pressing gently.

“Ahhh fuck… sir… more,” Ben groaned, whimpering, squirming underneath him.

Letting his tongue slip out, John kept the tip of his thumb just barely inside Ben, still stroking Ben’s cock slowly with his other hand. “You want me to go deeper?” he asked, moving his thumb in small, gentle circles, looking up.

Ben looked back at him, panting. “Yes… god, John, I want… I want to feel you.”

John hummed in anticipation, giving Ben’s cock one more stroke down to the base and then releasing him, pulling his thumb away and running his hand up the inside of Ben’s thigh. Shifting back up onto his knees, John picked up the lube and squirted some onto his hand, working it around to coat his fingers, trying to warm it up at the same time. Dropping the bottle back on the bed beside him, John rested that hand on Ben’s thigh, then, watching him to gauge his reactions, slowly ran two slicked fingers over Ben’s entrance. Ben drew a sharp breath, hips jerking up. “Too cold?” John asked.

“N-no, only a little… ahhh… don't stop,” Ben answered, “it's… it feels really good.”

“Mmm… good,” John said, sliding his fingers back and forth over Ben’s entrance, feeling Ben quivering under his hand where it rested on the sergeant’s leg. John kept rubbing gently and circling at Ben’s hole, against the skin just under his balls where they were pulled up tight against his body, making sure Ben was thoroughly warm and slick before twisting his hand up and pressing one finger against Ben’s entrance. Sure enough, Ben wasn't quite as tight now as he’d been in the shower and John was able to slide his finger slowly in, drawing a long, low moan from his sergeant. “That okay?” he asked, pausing as he felt Ben shiver.

“Yes… ahh… keep going…” Ben trailed off into another moan, trembling as John went deeper into his tight heat, taking hold of John’s other hand in his. John stilled, giving Ben a moment to get used to the feeling, then slowly pulled his finger back, only moving partway out before sliding it back in again. “Oh fuck… yes…” Ben groaned, and John kept going, sliding his finger gently in and out, Ben’s breath occasionally hitching in shallow gasps.

John could feeling Ben opening on him, and he started going deeper on each stroke until he was burying his finger into Ben as far as it would go. He gave Ben’s hand a squeeze and let it go, picking up the lube again. “Ready for another?” he asked, slowing his movement and dripping a bit more lube onto his fingers, waiting as he gave Ben a questioning look.

Ben nodded, breathing hard, as he looked back at John. John took Ben’s hand in his again, pulling his finger most of the way out and pushing in a second beside it. Ben clenched briefly on his fingers with a gasp, tightening his grip on John’s free hand, and John stopped moving until he felt Ben slowly relaxing around him again.

“That’s it, Ben,” John said, squeezing Ben’s hand, “that’s good… push down on me, just a little,” he suggested. John felt Ben relax further around him, and he was able to continue, now sliding two fingers deep inside Ben, his sergeant opening up to him, groaning as John pushed all the way in. After several more slow strokes in and out, John started going just a little faster, and Ben moaned, whimpering, rocking his hips up to meet John’s hand.

John had been so focused on getting Ben ready properly, he hadn’t really been paying attention to his own arousal, but he was suddenly sharply aware of the sight Ben made stretched out in front of him like this, his legs open wide with his knees drawn up, still half hard, moaning and bucking his hips up as John fingered him, and a sudden, dizzying wave of desire went coursing through him. Giving Ben’s hand another squeeze, John let it go and took Ben’s cock in his hand again, still sliding his slick fingers in and out of Ben’s tight heat.

Ben quivered, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. “Ohhh god… yes…” he groaned, panting, and John could feel Ben’s cock rapidly swelling, stiffening in his grip as he stroked Ben slowly, in time with the movement of his fingers.

It wasn’t long before Ben was completely hard in John’s hand again and John carefully started curling his fingers forward inside Ben, not sliding them as far out, until he found the spot he was looking for. Watching Ben’s reaction, he lightly brushed it with the tips of his fingers. Ben’s eyes opened wide and his breath stuttered. He looked briefly confused, staring at nothing, and then John repeated the motion inside him and Ben shuddered, fists clenching in the sheets beside him, crying out in a wordless gasp.

Gently working his fingers across that sweet spot inside Ben, John felt his own arousal building up almost unbearably just watching his sergeant. Ben was trembling from head to toe on the bed in front of him, gasping, moaning under John’s fingers, the muscles in his core visibly clenching, precome leaking from his cock and running over John’s hand as John stroked him. John almost couldn't believe how sensitive Ben was, and he kept his touch light, not keeping it up for too long before he stopped to give Ben a break.

Ben drew a deep, shaky breath that was almost a sob as John slowed, changing his angle again, leaving his fingers buried inside his sergeant but returning his other hand to Ben’s thigh. He watched as Ben came back to himself, tremors still running through him, his eyes seeming to regain focus as they found John's. “Oh god, John, do it, fuck me… I need you inside me,” he moaned, panting.

John’s cock throbbed with want and need at Ben’s words, and he had to fight the urge to immediately bury himself up to the hilt inside Ben. “One more first,” he managed to say with a groan, pulling his fingers back and adding a third. Ben groaned too, shuddering again, holding onto John’s other hand again, and this time he didn't clench when John pressed back into him. John held himself back somehow, still fucking Ben slowly with his fingers, opening him up further until he was again burying his fingers as deep inside Ben as they would go.

“John - John, _please,_ I want you,” Ben cried, trembling, his fingers tightening on John’s hand, his eyes on John’s deep and intense with need, and John couldn't wait anymore. Carefully slipping his fingers out as he let go of Ben's hand, John grabbed the little bottle of lube again and squirted it onto his palm. Ben watched, breathing hard, as John took his aching cock in his hand, groaning as he stroked himself a few times until his entire hard length was slick.

Positioning himself between Ben’s spread legs, knees wide under Ben’s thighs, John looked down, panting slightly, one hand on Ben’s hip and the other on his own cock as he lined himself up. Ben slid his hand up John’s forearm, and he whimpered, quivering, his grip tightening as John pressed the head of his cock against Ben’s hole and then in. John let out a shuddering groan as he breached his sergeant, pushing into Ben’s heat, and Ben cried out, moaning John’s name. Even now, opened and slick, Ben felt almost impossibly tight around John’s cock, but he got just deep enough that he could let go of himself without slipping back out.

Ben was panting, his chest heaving, and John leaned down over top of him, lowering himself onto one elbow and moving his lubed-up hand to Ben’s waist. John tenderly pushed Ben’s hair back off his sweaty forehead, meeting Ben’s wide eyes as he tried to wrestle his own breathing back under control.

“Ahh - John…” Ben moaned, bringing his hands up John’s back and gripping him tightly. John could feel Ben’s thighs quivering, tense, against the outside of his hips.

“I know, Ben,” John answered, still breathing heavily. “Try to relax… push a little, like before,” he said, holding Ben’s eyes, gently stroking his hair. “Yes, that's it… ahh, that’s good,” John said, feeling it as Ben started to relax around him, hearing Ben’s breathing steadying as his tension decreased.

Lowering his head, John met Ben’s lips with his, kissing him gently at first, then deeper as he felt Ben’s mouth open to him. Feeling Ben relaxing further around him at the same time, John pressed forward, gradually sinking his cock deeper inside Ben. Ben whimpered into his mouth but didn’t tense up again, and John started moving slowly inside Ben in gentle, shallow thrusts, lifting his head to gaze into Ben’s eyes again.

“Oh fuck… John…” Ben gasped softly, breathless, looking back at him. Ben’s eyes were wide, his mouth open, emitting little panting moans in time with John’s thrusts.

John felt light-headed, waves of pleasure rolling through him as he moved in Ben, finally. He could almost believe it wasn't real - except that the incredible feeling of Ben on his cock, tight and hot and slick, was definitely, completely, _wonderfully_ real, and it was taking every ounce of self-control John ever had not to fuck the living daylights out of his beautiful sergeant.

“God, Ben… you feel amazing,” John groaned, his hand tightening on Ben’s waist.

Ben whimpered. “More,” he said, and John felt Ben’s hips shifting, tilting up to meet him. John moaned, gripping Ben harder, desperately wanting to bury himself as deep inside Ben’s tight heat as he could. “I can take it, John, please,” Ben breathed, panting, running his hands down to John’s lower back.

John shuddered, groaning as he let himself thrust deeper into Ben, holding on to Ben’s waist too hard but Ben didn't seem to care, his hands tightening on John’s back and urging him on. John couldn't help responding, sinking his cock further into Ben’s heat with every thrust of his hips.

Despite keeping a slow pace, trembling from the strain of holding back, John knew he wasn't going to last very long and he desperately wanted to feel Ben coming on him. His hand on Ben’s waist was still slippery with lube and he moved it over, closing it around Ben’s cock, and Ben cried out as John started stroking him again.

John groaned as he sank his own cock into Ben’s heat over and over, Ben’s hard length sliding through his grip, the sergeant bucking his hips up to meet John on every thrust. “Ahhhh - sir - faster,” Ben moaned, sending a hot spike of arousal through John’s core.

“Fuck - Ben - I… I can't last much longer,” John gasped.

“Oh god, yes, come in me, John,” Ben panted, trembling under him, fingers raking across John’s back. John groaned again, his whole awareness narrowing to the feel of Ben, tight around his cock and hard in his hand. He was thrusting harder, deeper, Ben’s heat enveloping him, and Ben was panting, moaning his name over and over as John stroked his cock faster. “Ahhh - fuck, yes - yes - John, I'm - ahhhh -”

John felt Ben’s cock throb in his hand and Ben’s words dissolved into a wail as his body spasmed under John, liquid heat spilling over John’s fingers. Ben was clenching around John as he came and John thrust once more as he finally let go, burying himself fully inside his sergeant with an explosive groan, shaking with pleasure and moaning Ben’s name, spilling out in waves deep inside him, Ben still convulsing against him.

John came back to himself, panting, pulse racing through his veins, aftershocks jittering up and down his body. One hand still in Ben’s hair, John met Ben’s lips with his. His sergeant melted into the gentle kiss, trembling under John, his breath coming hot on John’s mouth in soft, scattered gasps. 

“Are you okay?” John asked gently, searching Ben’s eyes. He hadn't meant to lose control like that at the end.

Ben let out a shaky sigh. “Better than okay,” he answered with a soft smile. John kissed him again, relieved. He was starting to soften, and he reached down to carefully, reluctantly ease himself out of Ben.

Ben grunted, making a face as John pulled out. “You're sure you're okay?” John asked again, concerned.

Ben nodded, squirming a little under John. “Yeah, I just… it feels kind of… weird,” he said, blushing.

John smiled, planting a kiss on Ben’s sweaty forehead. “I know. It gets better,” he said, levering himself upright onto his knees. He looked down at Ben and his smile deepened. “Mmmm… that must have been a good one, then,” John said, trailing a finger down his sergeant’s stomach where Ben had come all over himself.

Ben looked down at his belly and went crimson. “I - wow. That's… a lot.”

John grinned and leaned over, grabbing one of their discarded towels from where it draped over the edge of the bed. It was a bit cold, but it was soft and still damp. Ben wiped himself down, and then John took the towel back, cleaning up himself and, gently, Ben as well, shushing Ben’s blushing protests that he didn't have to do that.

“I know I don't _have_ to, Ben,” John said, wiping the last of the lube from his fingers before balling up the towel and dropping it to the floor. He tugged the pillow out from under Ben and tossed it off the bed as well, then lay down with Ben, pulling the blankets over top of them both. “I wanted to,” he continued softly, stroking Ben’s shoulder as the sergeant turned onto his side to face John, his head on John’s other arm. Making a quiet little hum in the back of his throat, Ben slipped a hand onto John’s hip and cuddled up close, gazing sleepily into John's eyes, a small smile on his lips.

John kissed him gently, then slid his arm around Ben’s waist and traced his fingers idly over his sergeant’s back, his own eyes growing heavy. Lying there content and relaxed in the afterglow, John watched Ben’s eyes drift shut, listening to the sound of rain on the window mixing with Ben’s soft breathing until he drifted off to sleep too, Ben warm in his arms.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay, life got busy and this was a tricky chapter in the end. Really wanted to get it right! 
> 
> I do hope I succeeded... Let me know what you think ^_^
> 
>  
> 
> Also, a note on the timeline: I hadn't set this at any particular point in the show when I started, but I did end up deciding while writing earlier chapters that this work is set halfway through series 15.  
> (I fell down the rabbit hole a bit, looking at actual air dates of episodes and it totally works! At least, I think so :D So yeah, no spoilers -yet-, but in my head this all takes place very shortly after S15E03, a full year and a half after John and Ben started working together.)


	8. Interlude I - Ben

 

Smiling, Ben Jones hummed quietly to himself as he drove home to change before work. He was wearing yesterday's trousers again, along with a clean t-shirt and a plain grey hooded sweatshirt, both of which John had lent him. His trousers were itchy, still slightly damp after being left in a heap with the rest of his rain-soaked clothing on John’s bathroom floor all night. 

Jones felt his smile widen even as he shifted gingerly in his seat. He was undeniably sore, but it wasn't painful, not exactly… and the quiet ache was a constant and pleasant reminder of last night.  _ More  _ than pleasant. The things John had done to him, getting him so turned on he couldn’t see straight, and then the way John had felt, inside him, finally… he couldn't stop thinking about it. It had hurt at first, yes, but not for long, and when John had started moving in him he’d lost all sense of, well, everything else. It had felt even better than he had imagined it would, completely and utterly worth today's discomfort. And that  _ place _ in him that John had found… Jones shivered. Obviously he knew what it was, but clinical descriptions were nothing compared to how it actually felt. He wondered how long he'd have to wait before he could do it again… before he could feel John touching him inside and out, filling him up again, hot and hard, coming inside him… 

“Ah, shit,” Jones muttered, realizing he'd completely missed the turn onto his street. About four blocks ago. And he was hard again.  _ Well, this is going to be distracting today, _ he thought with a sigh as he turned the car around. Fortunately, he'd had plenty of practice keeping his private life firmly locked away in the back of his mind while at work. It was a necessary survival skill when you spent that much time around a bunch of detectives, so while he would have to keep a firm grip on his thoughts, Jones wasn’t too worried he’d give anything away. Also fortunately, this wasn't the first time he'd spent the night at the Barnabys’, so the event would not be of particular note to anyone at the precinct if they happened to find out, nor to any neighbours who may have seen him leaving this morning. 

Granted, the other times had all been due to discussing a case late over a few too many drinks, as opposed to being shagged senseless by his DCI, but they wouldn’t know that. He hoped. He couldn’t help thinking it was a bloody good thing the windows had been closed, given the noises John had wrung out of him last night. Jones felt the heat rising in his cheeks and he shifted in his seat again, willing his thoughts in another direction in an attempt to get rid of his full blown erection. Finally pulling up in front of his flat, he got out of the car, wincing only a little at the movement, and headed inside, yesterday’s shirt and jacket casually over his arm in front of him. 

Having not actually gone to sleep very late, he and John had woken up early, and as a result he still had a decent amount of time to shave, change, and make it in to the office at the usual hour. Even after his accidental detour. As he went through his more or less normal morning routine, Jones was surprised at how rested he felt. He remembered partially waking up a few times in the night, sore and disoriented, but each time John had held him close, murmuring soothing noises until Ben slipped back to sleep, comforted. He didn't know if John had even been awake enough to remember those interruptions, and he'd been too shy to ask this morning. Not to mention, too distracted. Jones flushed slightly in front of his bathroom mirror. John had apparently woken up first, because Ben had slowly regained consciousness to the feeling of a hand on his bare hip, a warm mouth at his neck, and a hard cock pressed firmly against his arse. 

They'd put the lube to good use again and wanked each other off before getting up, sleepy and unhurried and messy. John had thrown a pillow at him after he’d made a comment about John perhaps not being quite such a ‘dessicated old goat’ after all, then gone off to shower first, leaving Ben dozing contentedly amid the disheveled bedding until John came back to pull out clean clothes for himself and Ben both. After taking his turn using the bathroom and showering, Ben had headed downstairs towards the smell of coffee and the sound of John’s voice from the kitchen. 

John had been talking on the phone while cooking something on the stove and Ben’s stomach growled loudly as he realized they had completely missed supper the night before. When he walked over, John had handed him a cup of coffee, already prepared the way he liked it, and cheerfully told him,  _ Sarah says good morning, Ben. Get the toast, would you? Eggs are almost ready, _ before continuing his conversation with Sarah about what time she was getting home that evening and when they should go pick up Sykes. Ben had dutifully buttered the toast and then quietly sipped his coffee, listening to John talk, unable to think of anything for a little while besides how incredibly lucky he was. He didn't fully understand this thing he had with John and Sarah, this unexpectedly deep and easy intimacy, and he was slightly stunned by the way his two friends, now lovers as well, had accepted him so readily into their relationship. 

As he rifled through his closet, Jones wondered whether any of this would still have happened if not for that accidental night in the station, when everything had fallen into place through sheer, blind chance. He didn’t think so, and his chest tightened painfully with something like a shadow of loss, a strange sort of grief for what he could have missed without ever even knowing he  _ had _ missed it.

Realizing with a start that he was just standing there in his bedroom, staring unseeing into his closet, Jones gave himself a little shake and continued undressing. He’d already rid himself of his damp trousers and thrown them at the pile of dirty laundry in the corner, and now he shucked off his - John’s - shirt and hoodie as well, noticing as he did that they still smelled faintly but unmistakably of John. After the briefest of hesitations he tossed them to the head of his bed instead.  _ No point in washing something that’s barely been worn, right, _ he told himself as he dressed, fully aware of how flimsy an excuse that was and not bothered by the knowledge in the slightest. 

Taking a deep breath in and letting it back out, Jones straightened his tie, dragged his mind firmly back to the case, and left for work with a smile on his lips. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post a single multi-part chapter, but since I apparently have no patience, there'll be a few individual mini chapters instead ;p   
> Happy weekend!  
> -xx


	9. Interlude II - John

 

Shutting down his computer for the day, John Barnaby leaned back in his chair with a smile. It was Friday, the changeable autumn weather had turned nice again, and Midsomer’s more murderously inclined citizens had apparently taken the whole week off. Even if it meant catching up on far too much paperwork in the office, Barnaby had been enjoying the normal hours and being home for supper with Sarah every evening. If this kept up, he might even get an entire weekend off, and that was an exceedingly pleasant prospect.

Last weekend, he and Jones had at least managed to wrap up their case shortly after Sarah got back from her conference in London. They’d caught a lucky break the day she’d come home, in fact, leading to an arrest that same night. It had meant Barnaby hadn’t been able to go pick up Sykes with her Friday evening in the end, but Saturday he and Jones had gotten their final reports done in time for supper. This time they’d gone back to John and Sarah’s for their traditional case-closed whiskey, rather than having it in the office, picking up some takeaway for the three of them on the way home.

Ben hadn’t stayed the night that time, but they _had_ all ended up in bed together before very long. It was a wonder they’d made it through the meal, really. John and Ben were still wound up after Ben’s unplanned sleepover Thursday night, and Sarah had missed them both rather a lot, judging by the way she’d pounced on them each in turn.

Barnaby kept the smirk off his face as he loosened his tie, suddenly feeling a little warm, and shot a sidelong glance at his sergeant. Jones didn’t notice the look, focused on his work with a small frown of concentration on his face as he chewed his bottom lip. An image flashed through Barnaby’s mind before he could stop it of Ben as he’d been on the weekend instead; flushed, eyes half closed, groaning with his hand in Sarah’s hair as she sucked him off while John took her from behind. Feeling himself stirring at the memory, Barnaby cleared his throat and focused his attention on tidying up his desk. The distraction mostly worked, although the thought of how good Ben would look bent over it in front of him briefly hampered that.

He heard Jones’ sigh and the creak of his chair as the sergeant leaned back from his desk. “Done for the day, then, sir?” Jones asked from behind him.

“Yes, Jones, yes I am,” Barnaby answered, swiveling his chair around and meeting his sergeant’s eyes. “Have you got much left?”

Jones flicked through the stack of papers he’d been working through. “No, I won’t be much longer either. It’s been nice, having a quiet week for a change.”

Barnaby nodded in agreement. “It has, at that.” Standing up, he added casually, “Actually, Sarah and I are going out to the pub tonight, if you’d like to join us for a drink when you’re done here.” As he spoke, he let his gaze flicker briefly, almost accidentally, down Jones’ body and back up to his eyes again.

Jones didn’t so much as twitch, but something shifted subtly in his posture, and Barnaby could have sworn he saw the heat flare in his sergeant’s eyes at the unspoken part of the invitation.

“Sure, I didn’t have any other plans this evening,” Jones answered, just as casually. “The one near your house?”

“That’s the one. We’re going to walk over with Sykes around seven, after Sarah gets home from work. If you want to just park at our place, we’ll wait for you,” Barnaby replied, checking he had his wallet and keys.

“Sounds good, sir. I’ll see you later,” Jones said with one of his quiet smiles, turning back to his work.

Barnaby resisted the usual urge to run a hand up his sergeant’s arm as he left their office, looking forward to doing that and more later tonight. He still occasionally had to catch himself before making those little intimate gestures without thinking. Last Friday it had been particularly difficult, remembering to keep things professional again after their relaxed morning together before work, wrenching his thoughts away from what they’d shared the night before. Barnaby wasn’t sure which memories had been more distracting; the erotic ones of Ben on his cock, his name on Ben’s lips, or the tender ones of falling asleep with his sergeant in his arms, of holding Ben when he woke in the night.

It was an unfortunate reality of their situation, but none of them could risk the potential fallout of a slip-up in public. Midsomer county may have been slowly getting dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century, but theirs was still not an arrangement that would be deemed acceptable in any way. Still, Barnaby had been keeping himself in check around Jones for over a year already, and this was just one more level of the same self-discipline. Barnaby could handle that. He didn’t _like_ it, but it was necessary, and given that he had already decided long before that having Jones as a colleague and friend was worth a little emotional strain on occasion, well… having Ben in his life as a colleague, friend, _and_ lover was more than worth it.

Right now, after keeping himself under tight rein all week, Barnaby was aching to hold Ben again, not to mention revisit the ‘lover’ part of their relationship. There was no question that Ben was just as keen on a repeat of last Thursday’s performance as John was, because he had, with much blushing and stammering, come right out and asked for it again on the weekend. After only a couple days’ recovery though, Ben had still been a little tender, and John had refused to go any further than licking and tonguing the sergeant to within an inch of his sanity. He’d spent all week since then looking forward to making Ben writhe on his fingers and his cock again, especially with Sarah there this time. She liked seeing Ben come to pieces as much as John did.

Smiling to himself, Barnaby got in the car to head home. If Ben reacted anything like he had last week, tonight was going to be well worth the wait.

  



	10. Interlude III - Sarah

 

Pulling open the front door, Sarah Barnaby smiled. “Good morning, Ben,” she said, stepping back to let him in.

“Morning, Sarah,” Ben answered, his return smile warming his eyes as they met hers.

“John is just taking Sykes for his walk,” Sarah said, shivering a little in the draft as Ben came inside. Autumn wasn’t much more than a fading memory now, and the morning air had a definite wintry bite to it. Once Ben had safely shut the door behind him, Sarah planted a quick kiss on his mouth, her hand on his cheek, then paused and looked at Ben with concern. “You look exhausted.” 

“I am,” he answered, following Sarah into the kitchen. Ben poured himself a cup of coffee and sank down at the table with a sigh as Sarah moved around the room, clearing up her and John’s breakfast dishes. “It’s been a busy week,” Ben said after a few swallows of coffee. “Or three,” he added with a short, humourless laugh.

Sarah went over and stood behind him, hearing the back door open and shut as she slipped her arms around Ben, hands on his chest. Ben leaned his head back against her and Sarah kissed him on the forehead. “Your boss works you too hard,” she said with a smile at John as he walked into the kitchen. Ben gave a quiet laugh, a real one this time, and reached up to squeeze one of Sarah’s hands in his.

“I do no such thing,” John said in a mildly affronted tone, coming over to the pair of them, Sykes trotting ahead of him and scavenging around the floor for any breakfast scraps that might have been overlooked. John leaned in and gave Sarah a kiss, and she felt his hand take hold of hers and Ben’s both where they rested on Ben’s chest. When it came to Ben, that was about as demonstrative as John let himself get on a work morning. “But… we do have to get going,” John added sheepishly.

“See?” Sarah said with a raised eyebrow and an ‘I win’ smirk at John. She let go of Ben, who took a big gulp of coffee as he got back to his feet.

“Well, we both have some time off coming up, at least,” John said as Ben took his coffee mug over to the sink and then moved to follow John to the front door. 

Sarah collected up the papers she’d been working on this morning with a smile. “Mmm… yes, I’ve been looking forward to that,” she replied. They’d all been busy lately, and it had been a couple of weeks since the three of them had managed to spend some… quality time together. A small thrill of anticipation and arousal sent a wave of heat out from her center as she looked at the pair of them, and her smile deepened at their responses. John got that thoughtful, intense look in his eyes, and Ben grinned, his ears turning red. He was such an endearing contradiction, their Ben. Despite everything he had done with her and John over the last couple of months, Ben was still adorably, genuinely shy at times… but under all the blushing he was eager as hell, and deliciously insatiable to boot. As far as Sarah could tell, Ben had never  _ really _ indulged that side of himself, and helping him bring it out was… rewarding, to say the least.

“I’ll let you know if I can’t make it home in time for supper tonight,” John called as he and Ben headed out. Sarah gave them a little wave, and went back to getting ready for work with a rueful smile at herself. Sometimes she wondered what on earth she’d been thinking. Bad enough having one detective in her life, disappearing at all hours to stubbornly stick himself in harm’s way at the drop of a hat, now she had two of them. She didn’t really mean it, of course, but… it had never been easy living with the knowledge that John might just not come home one day, and now she worried about Ben too. Their job was unavoidably dangerous sometimes, and Sarah knew full well that John didn’t tell her about every incident, either. 

It had to be just as hard on the two of them as well, if not more so. Even before they’d gotten involved, Ben had had some close calls that left John more shaken than his own near misses did. And now… John didn’t let many people get close, but Sarah knew firsthand how fiercely important the few who did were to him. Ben had already been well on the way to that status, and the events of the last months had firmly solidified it. 

Checking that the back door was locked before she headed out, Sarah wondered whether John fully realized yet just how hard he had fallen for Ben. He hid it well in public, but at home, where he could let his guard down, it was obvious. To Sarah, anyway. With the exception of herself, she had never seen John respond quite so intensely to anyone else the way he did to Ben, both emotionally and physically.  _ And Ben barely seems to realize what an effect he has, _ Sarah thought with a small shake of her head. She strongly suspected it was simply because John made him feel the same way. It had been almost unavoidable, really, given how close the two were even before they became lovers as well.

Sarah sometimes forgot how recently that was. Ben becoming a part of her life, a part of her and John’s life, had felt so natural they’d quickly settled into a comfortable, workable routine. Just like he had before, Ben occasionally came over after work for supper or a drink, only now they wound up in bed more often than not before he went home for the night. Usually all three of them, occasionally just John and Ben if she was out. The times they  _ didn't  _ end up in bed were generally because they didn't make it past the couch. Or, one rather memorable evening, the kitchen table. Weekends were even nicer because Ben could stay longer, sometimes overnight, though they still had to be careful not to make a habit of it. The need to be circumspect for the sake of all their careers was frustrating sometimes, but they were making it work. 

With a sigh, Sarah bundled Sykes into the car to drop him at Millie Bullard’s on her way to work. The situation may not have been ideal, but she wouldn’t trade it for the world. Life was never simple. All any of them could do was make the best of what they had, and enjoy things as they came. And once John and Ben were off work for a bit, well… Sarah smiled. They were all going to be enjoying each other at every opportunity, and she was  _ very  _ much looking forward it. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Testing my hand at a Sarah POV! I hope it worked >_>


	11. A welcome break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for our favourite trio to get back to doing wonderfully naughty things to one another.  
> Pure, unapologetic smut ahead. Consider yourselves warned ;)

 

Ben Jones heaved a deep, contented sigh as he settled down on the couch beside Sarah. After a downright insane several weeks and a particularly rough case, he and John finally had a week off. Neither of them was even on call. Sarah was still busy, coming into the end of the school term before the holidays, but at least she could count on relatively steady work hours. Ben had spent his first day off mainly catching up on a whole lot of sleep, but today he'd gone to visit his Gran for the morning, then come over to the Barnabys’ in the afternoon and helped John get supper ready for when Sarah got home. Ben had just finished clearing up after their meal while John took Sykes out for his evening walk and Sarah wrapped up some work she needed to get done for tomorrow.

Sarah working quietly next to him, Ben relaxed, slouching down in his seat as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, realizing he'd dozed off without meaning to when he woke up to Sarah’s voice and her hand stroking through his hair. “You know you _can_ just go to bed if you need to, Ben,” she said as he opened his eyes, her tone mildly amused.

“Mmm… only if that’s an invitation,” Ben replied, biting his lip as he looked up at her, and Sarah laughed, then leaned down and kissed him. It started out gentle, but that didn't last long. Ben opened his mouth to her, welcoming her tongue with his, his breath coming faster as warmth spread through him. Reaching over, Ben found Sarah’s other hand and tugged her towards him until she was straddling his lap as they kissed. His hands on her thighs, Ben felt himself getting hard, fast, Sarah’s weight a delicious warmth on his cock even through his jeans. “Christ, I've missed you,” Ben murmured against Sarah’s mouth, and he felt Sarah’s smile against his lips as she kissed him again, harder, slowly circling her hips on his lap and making him groan as she rubbed against his erection. Ben slid both hands up Sarah’s legs to grip her arse as she moved on him, her tongue hot in Ben’s mouth, one hand on his chest and the other behind his head.

The back door opened and then shut again, and Ben heard the jingle of Sykes’ collar followed by John’s familiar footsteps. Neither he nor Sarah stopped what they were doing, and Ben heard the DCI’s steps pause briefly. “Ooh… now isn’t that a sight,” John said, the sound of his footsteps resuming as he walked towards the couch. Ben heard John stop behind him, and he groaned softly as John’s hands dropped down to massage his shoulders and neck.

Sarah pulled away from Ben’s mouth, and John’s hands slid down Ben’s chest as he leaned down to kiss Sarah. Smiling, Ben took the opportunity to nuzzle into Sarah’s neck, breathing in her warm scent as he trailed his lips up from Sarah’s collarbone to her ear. Sarah moaned softly, shifting on Ben’s lap, and John chuckled above them, deep in his throat, dirty, the sound going straight to Ben’s cock and making heat rise in his cheeks. “Well, I’m ready for bed if you two are,” John said as he straightened up. Ben grinned, pulling his face away from Sarah’s neck and Sarah unfolded herself from his lap. He followed them upstairs to the bedroom, ending up happily sandwiched between the two of them, lying on his side facing Sarah with John spooned up behind him.

With Sarah’s mouth on his own and John’s on his neck, Ben melted into the familiar feeling of their hands and tongues and the warmth of their bodies against him for the first time in far too long. Sarah was pressed up against his front, her hips undulating slowly, her crotch rubbing against his cock, and he could feel John getting harder, pushed up against his arse. Ben moaned softly into Sarah’s mouth as John’s hand moved over his hip from behind and started undoing his jeans. Sarah ran her hand up his side, pushing up his t-shirt while John slipped his hand into Ben’s pants. Ben moaned again when John’s grip closed loosely around his cock, the feeling pure delight after weeks of making do with only his own hand.

Sarah was still pressing herself up against him and now John’s hand as well, and Ben reached down to undo her slacks so he could get his own hand down the front of them. While John stroked Ben’s cock, occasionally swirling his thumb over the tip, languidly thrusting his hard length up against Ben’s arse, Ben slid a finger between Sarah’s outer lips, humming with pleasure when he felt how wet she already was. Slipping his finger just inside her entrance, Ben slicked it in her juices before pulling it forward to lightly circle his fingertip over her clit, and Sarah moaned, her breath hot in Ben’s mouth.

Ben blissfully lost himself in John and Sarah, breathing in the heady scent that was uniquely theirs, the silence broken only by the sounds of soft panting breaths, of wet mouths on skin, of fabric shifting as they moved against each other on the bed. Sarah broke the spell first, pushing Ben’s shirt up, making him shift until she’d rucked it up under his arms; then making him gasp as she started rolling a thumb around his stiffened nipple. Ben had been slightly embarrassed by his own response the first time John had gone at his nipples in front of Sarah, but for the life of him he couldn’t remember why anymore. He arched into Sarah’s touch with a soft whimper, feeling his cock twitch in John’s hand, and Sarah watched Ben’s face with a heated smile, her tongue on her teeth.

“I think we’re all rather over-dressed,” she finally said, her smile deepening. Sarah gave Ben a quick kiss and sat up, hands going to the bottom of her own shirt and pulling it over her head. Ben slipped his hand out of her slacks, grunting as John gave his cock one more squeeze and then pulled his hand back as well. Getting undressed turned into something of an impromptu race, which Ben lost after getting briefly stuck halfway out of his shirt from trying not to elbow the other two on either side of him. John helped, yanking Ben’s shirt over his head, and Ben knelt upright further down the bed to shimmy out of his jeans, pants, and socks. Sarah and John were settling back down together as he finished, already naked, Sarah on her back and John on his side against her.

Ben just watched them kissing for a moment, because _god damn they look good together,_ then he lowered his mouth to Sarah’s leg below her knee and started moving back up the bed on all fours, trailing licks and kisses up her thigh. Sarah hummed with pleasure above him, the sound muffled by John’s mouth, and she opened her legs up for Ben to move in between them.

Just as Ben made it to the top of Sarah’s inner thigh, John’s hand slipped down between her legs. A thrill of arousal ran through Ben’s gut as John pressed two fingers into Sarah right in front of him, making her moan. Ben leaned in around John’s hand, licking both at Sarah’s entrance and at John’s fingers while they slid in and out of her. Sarah gasped above him, her legs falling open wider, and Ben slowly moved up to circle his tongue on her clit while John kept fingering her, his hand moving against Ben’s jaw.

His tongue flicking, licking at Sarah’s sweet spot, Ben hummed with pleasure at her taste, hearing her breath coming faster, her body already quivering under Ben’s mouth and John’s fingers. They worked her like that, together, her moans muffled against John’s mouth, her thighs twitching under Ben’s hands, and it wasn't long before Sarah shuddered, letting out a high-pitched, breathless keening sound as she came between them. Ben and John both slowed, Ben letting up with his tongue but not moving away. He could usually pull a second orgasm from Sarah when she came this quickly the first time if he was careful, and he kept his mouth on her, gentle, pressing kisses against her while she trembled through the aftershocks.

As he did, John shifted down the bed towards Ben, slipping his fingers out of Sarah. Ben was more than happy to replace them with his own, a soft moan escaping him as he sank his fingers into her slick heat, feeling the occasional leftover spasm run through her. John moved down beside Ben, and he felt John’s hand in his hair, tugging gently. Ben raised his head, his mouth wet from Sarah, and John kissed him, tongue probing, licking, tasting, before sucking Ben’s lower lip as he pulled back with a smile, licking his lips and humming quietly, his eyes on Ben. Ben shivered, then lowered his mouth back down to Sarah as John continued further down the bed next to him.

Ben started licking Sarah lightly again, fingering her wet heat, making her groan softly. He felt John shifting around behind him, hands moving up the outside of his thighs to his arse, and then the wet warmth of a tongue on his lower back started trailing down his spine. Without even thinking about it, Ben raised his hips and spread his knees, still down on his elbows with his face buried between Sarah’s legs. John chuckled softly behind him with a pleased hum and then Ben quivered, the movement of his own tongue faltering briefly as he felt John’s swipe up over his entrance, hot and wet, making him gasp. Sarah moaned, and Ben, glancing up, realized with a flare of arousal that she was watching both him and John behind him.

Groaning, Ben tried to focus his attention on working Sarah with his tongue and fingers despite John distracting him, licking at his balls before moving up again, wet tongue lapping, circling over his entrance, slipping inside him and then back out again. Ben whimpered against Sarah, listening to her panting, feeling her building up again slowly as he licked harder at her clit, fucking her faster with his fingers, his own need building higher under John’s tongue. After a little while, Ben heard the familiar pop of a small bottle being opened and then John’s mouth left him, to be almost immediately replaced by a series of liquid drips, startlingly cold compared to the warmth of John's tongue.

Ben yelped, pulling his mouth from Sarah. “Sorry,” John murmured from behind Ben, not sounding sorry at all, damn him. Sarah chuckled even as she moaned, slipping her hand down to twine her fingers in Ben’s hair, raising her hips and nudging his head back down until he pressed his mouth to her again. Ben groaned deep in his throat, quivering as he felt John’s fingers, warm and slick, sliding over his entrance while Ben slid his own fingers in and out of Sarah. He knew what was coming, his anticipation building and his breath coming faster even as he did his best to focus on Sarah. It wasn’t long before he faltered again when John’s finger slipped inside him.

“Ahh - fuck,” Ben gasped, a shudder travelling through him. He’d gotten a fair bit of very enjoyable practice with this over the last few months, and even with their recent unwanted break, John only needed to slide in and out a couple times before adding a second finger and burying them both deep inside Ben. Ben was vaguely surprised to hear himself making a loud, drawn-out noise that was really more of a whine than a moan, and then found he didn’t care. _God,_ he’d missed this.

John started fingering Ben slowly from behind, his other hand firm on Ben’s arse, and Sarah whimpered Ben’s name, bucking her hips against his hand as her fingers tightened in his hair. Ben realized he’d completely stopped moving, and he went back to sliding his own fingers in and out of Sarah, faster than John was doing to him. Sarah moaned as Ben lapped his tongue against her clit again, knowing he wasn’t quite up to his usual standards but Sarah didn’t seem to mind, quivering above him, getting even wetter around his fingers, her hips moving under his mouth.

Ben felt John pause, and he whimpered and then groaned as John pressed another finger into him and kept going. Trembling, he managed to not stop working at Sarah this time, barely, at least until John’s other hand left Ben’s arse to run up the inside of his thigh and cup his balls, fingers brushing the base of his cock.

“Jesus - fuck, John,” Ben gasped, his cock twitching, the touch making him suddenly and almost painfully aware that he was aching with need, and he found himself pushing backwards against John’s hand with a whimper, trying to bury John's fingers deeper into himself.

John just moved with him, his hands drawing more and more whimpers and moans from Ben’s throat. Ben kept fucking Sarah with his own fingers through it all, but he was panting too hard to keep licking her. He felt her hand leave his hair and then he groaned again, burying his face into the top of her inner thigh as Sarah slipped her hand between her legs with a low moan and took over rubbing her clit above Ben’s fingers.

“Ready for me?” John asked from behind Ben, his voice deep, husky, almost a growl, pulling yet another whimper from Ben’s throat.

“Yesss,” Ben hissed between his teeth, panting, and he felt both John's hands leave him, fingers slipping carefully out of him, followed by the sound of the bottle being opened again. John's soft groan, coupled with the slick sound of him stroking his cock, coating himself with lube, sent a spike of desire flaring sharply through Ben’s core and he trembled with anticipation. Sarah must have heard it too, or maybe she could even see John touching himself from where she was, because at the same time Ben felt her hips buck on his fingers and she shivered, moaning.

John shifted behind him, putting a hand on Ben’s arse, and then Ben’s breath caught as he felt John press into him, hot and slick against his entrance. Ben let out a guttural moan, shuddering as John pushed slowly inside him, making himself relax into the stretch of John’s hard cock filling him up inch by inch. Sarah moaned above him, rubbing herself faster, her fingers circling over her clit, and Ben angled his fingers up, fucking her on them harder. John’s hands gripped Ben’s hips and Ben sucked a sharp breath in and let it back out with a gasp as he felt John's cock slide partway out of him, then back in even deeper.

Ben managed to keep fingering Sarah as John fucked him from behind, John’s hands holding his hips tight, his and Sarah’s pants and moans mixing with the sound of John's breath coming in grunts with each thrust of his cock into Ben. John's angle was putting just a hint of pressure on Ben’s prostate, making Ben’s cock throb and ache for touch, but he wasn't about to pull his hand away from Sarah now. She was so close, watching John fuck him, and Ben could feel her tension growing around his fingers, could see her stomach quivering as she built higher and higher, and then Sarah shuddered and spasmed with a long, wordless cry, the wet rush of heat inside her and the feeling of her clenching on his fingers making Ben shake as he watched her come.

Through it all, John was still sliding his cock steadily in and out of Ben, hot and hard inside him, and Ben couldn't wait anymore, slipping his fingers out of Sarah and reaching down. A shivering groan of relief and renewed need passed Ben’s lips as he closed his hand around his cock. With a shudder, Ben stroked himself once, from the head down to the base, squeezing tightly, his precome slick under his fingers and the knowledge that he would have already leaked a puddle of the clear liquid onto the sheets below him making him groan louder.

Ben raised himself up from his elbow onto his hand, his arm shaking, and he had to put his other hand down on the mattress so he wouldn't topple over as John moved in him. Arching his back, Ben shifted his hips to try and angle John towards that place inside him. “Ahhh - god, please… I need…” Ben trailed off with a whimper, not even knowing exactly what he was asking for, but John slowed, then stilled as Sarah wriggled her way down the bed until she was underneath Ben, looking into his eyes as she reached down between them. Ben moaned as he felt Sarah’s hand on his cock, a shudder passing through him.

“Get lower, Ben,” Sarah said, breathing hard, raising her hips, her legs open underneath him and her eyes still on his. Ben slowly slid his knees wider, lowering himself down onto Sarah at the same time. John moved with Ben, one hand leaving Ben’s hip to hold himself in place so he wouldn't slip out.

“Oh _fuck,_ " Ben gasped as Sarah guided him inside her, John still in him. The position was a bit awkward but Ben barely noticed, nearly overwhelmed by the feeling of Sarah hot and tight around his cock and the hard heat of John still buried inside him. And then John leaned onto him and started thrusting again, not hard or deep or even fast, but finally hitting the right spot and sending mounting waves of pleasure cascading through him.

Sarah moaned and Ben buried his face against her shoulder, crying out with John’s every thrust, letting John's movement rock him in and out of Sarah as well. With Sarah raising her hips up in rhythm to meet him, Ben felt himself building and building, and he thought he was coming but then it just kept going, ecstasy washing through him until he finally peaked, a wild sound approaching a howl tearing from his throat as he felt himself pulsing out into Sarah for what seemed like ages, shuddering and clenching uncontrollably on John's cock.

Panting and trembling against Sarah, his head spinning and his legs finally giving out under his and John's weight, Ben felt John pull out and straighten up behind him. He could hear John gasping, feel John’s fist moving against him as John frantically pumped his own cock hard and fast until he came a few heartbeats later, and Ben shuddered again, John’s come spattering hot onto his back as his name ripped from John’s throat in a strangled moan.

The muscles in his arms and legs screaming at him, Ben rolled off Sarah with a groan. John collapsed down beside him and the three of them just lay there side by side, panting and covered in sweat.

“Holy shit,” Ben said breathlessly after a minute. Or maybe an hour. They'd never done _that_ before. Sarah let out an equally breathless chuckle beside him, and Ben fumbled between them until he found Sarah’s hand with his.

John turned onto his side, draping his arm across Ben’s chest. “Glad you liked it,” he murmured, and Ben could feel John’s smile as he planted a kiss on the side of Ben’s forehead.

“‘Liked it’ is maybe a bit of an understatement… I’ve never come so hard in my life,” Ben said, feeling heat rush to his face at his own blunt admission, a small shiver running through him.

Sarah chuckled again, low and dirty, and squeezed Ben’s hand. “So I noticed,” she said, deliberately shifting her hips beside him and Ben’s cheeks burned hotter. He still couldn't quite believe how much there was when John got him just right like that, and he'd been in Sarah for it this time… Ben bit his lip and looked at Sarah with a soft groan, letting go of her hand to put his arm around her instead. Sarah grinned at him as she rolled onto her side and gave him a quick kiss before cuddling up close with her head on Ben’s chest.

Ben raised his other hand off the bed to stroke John’s arm where it rested on him, Sarah’s arm over his stomach and one leg thrown across his thighs. His cheeks still on fire and his legs like jelly, Ben sighed happily and let his eyes close. They’d all get up to shower before going to sleep, and… probably change the sheets as well, but for the moment Ben didn’t even want to think about moving. Surrounded by John and Sarah’s warmth, listening to their breathing slowly steady, Ben couldn’t have stopped smiling even if he’d wanted to.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you for reading! And for the encouragement :) This work wouldn't have gotten nearly so long and involved without you all egging me on with kudos and lovely, lovely comments ^_^ ♡


	12. A morning off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly kinky and utterly gratuitous, just because I could.  
> I regret nothing ;)

 

John Barnaby blinked slowly into semi-consciousness and rolled over onto his back. The bed was empty but still warm beside him. Sarah had already left for work, and John had gotten up briefly as well, seeing her off before crawling back into bed next to Ben, curling up to his warmth and drifting back to sleep. The bathroom door opened down the hall and John heard Ben’s footsteps approaching as he came back into the bedroom, stark naked, a smile spreading across his face when he saw that John was awake.

“Good morning, sir,” Ben said brightly, climbing into bed and slipping a hand onto John’s chest as he snuggled in close.

“Mmmph…” John stretched lazily and yawned, Ben’s words filtering into his brain slowly. _Sir… oh, so_ that's _how he wants it today, is it…_ John smiled. Ben had fairly quickly stopped using the term purely out of habit when they were off the clock, as it were. Now when he did it, it was entirely on purpose, and it hadn't taken the DCI long to work out just how much Ben got off on it when John… played along. And, well, John would be lying to himself if he pretended the game didn't hit a few of his own buttons, as well. “Good morning, Jones,” he answered. “Sleep well?”

“Mmhmm,” came the muffled response from where Ben had already buried his face in John’s neck. John came further awake, humming softly in pleasure at the feeling of Ben’s mouth suckling at his throat, lips warm and soft and wet. Ben’s fingers were running lightly over his chest, occasionally moving to brush over one of his nipples. John’s weren't nearly as sensitive as Ben’s were, but it still felt good and he hummed again, tilting his head back to give Ben more room to work, his lower extremities taking a definite interest in the proceedings.

Ben inched his hand lower, meandering his fingers oh-so-slowly down John's belly and pushing the sheet out of the way as he went, nibbling and kissing down John’s neck and past his collarbone at the same time. The muscles in John’s stomach quivered as Ben ran his fingertips over John’s rapidly stiffening cock with the same feather light touch he'd been using on John’s torso, and then Ben’s mouth made it to safely below shirt collar level and he started biting and sucking hard at John’s skin.

John hissed a breath in through his teeth, fully awake now, the just-painful suction of Ben’s mouth a stark counterpoint to the agonizingly light touch of his fingers. The sharp sensation as well as the knowledge that Ben was going to leave a mark, or rather _marks,_ the way he was going, made John’s arousal flare up sudden and hot. Ben had been inordinately pleased with himself when he'd discovered the effect this particular activity had on John… not that John minded terribly much.

“Has anyone ever told you you are an incorrigible tease, Sergeant Jones?” John groaned, squirming slightly, arching his back to press his chest up against Ben’s mouth.

Grinning, Ben lifted his head, his lips red and wet. “Yes, sir. You have. On several occasions, in fact.” John grunted and slipped a hand around behind Ben’s neck, tugging him up into a deep kiss. Ben made a quiet, intense _ummmm_ of pleasure against John’s lips, his hand stilling as his mouth opened to John’s tongue.

“I don't believe I told you to stop, sergeant,” John murmured as he pulled back slightly, meeting Ben’s eyes and nudging his hips up under Ben’s hand.

“Sorry, sir,” Ben said, catching his bottom lip between his teeth and returning John's gaze with a slight smile. John felt Ben’s thumb run lightly over the head of his cock and he closed his eyes with a small sigh of pleasure. Pulling Ben’s mouth to his again, John kissed him hard, running his hand through Ben’s hair as Ben’s fingers continued teasing over his cock.

Bringing his other hand up, John broke their kiss and ran his thumb over Ben’s bottom lip instead. Ben sucked it into his mouth without hesitating, closing his fingers around John’s erection at the same time but with only a hint of pressure. Pulling his hand back, John moved it to Ben’s chest, making Ben gasp quietly as he rubbed his spit-slick thumb in circles over Ben’s nipple. Watching Ben’s eyes fluttering half shut at his touch, John worked at the stiff little peak with one hand and tightened his fingers in Ben’s hair with the other.

“You know, I can think of something even better for you to do with your mouth, Jones,” he said in a low voice, and Ben quivered, his hand tightening on John’s cock.

“Yes, _sir,_ ” Ben replied, licking his lips with a heated smile, his eyes briefly meeting John’s again. John let his hand slide down Ben’s back as the sergeant sat up and leaned over top of him. Instead of moving down the bed, Ben twisted around so that he was on his knees with his arse up in the air beside John, moving his hands to the mattress on each side of John’s hips as he dragged his tongue down John’s body.

Taking the invitation for what it was, John slid his hand down over Ben’s arse to his inner thigh, and Ben shivered under the touch, spreading his knees wider. As Ben reached John’s cock, John felt him use one hand to raise it to his mouth, licking up John’s shaft and circling his tongue over the head, then running it back down John’s entire length to lap at his balls. Cock twitching in Ben’s loose grip, John groaned softly at the delicious torment and slipped his hand up to give Ben’s arse a squeeze, then brushed his fingertips lightly up and down just over the edge of Ben’s entrance. Ben whimpered, hips shifting under John’s hand, his breath hot as he moved back up John’s hard length, wet tongue flickering over the tip, still only teasing.

John was fairly certain of what Ben wanted at this point and he finally reached down with his other hand, ran his fingers through Ben’s hair and pushed his sergeant’s head down onto his cock. He made sure to do it just hard enough that Ben could pull back if he wanted to, but John must have called it right because Ben did nothing of the sort, instead making an eager little noise in the back of his throat as John’s cock slid between his lips and onto the slick warmth of his tongue. John groaned again, louder, letting his hips buck up slightly, pushing himself deeper into Ben’s wet, inviting mouth.

“Ahhh… god, that’s good, Jones,” John said with a slight gasp, watching Ben’s head moving under the light pressure of his hand. While Ben sucked him, lips and tongue working up and down his hard length, hand gripping the base of his cock, John brought his own hand to his mouth and coated his fingertips in saliva before running them over Ben’s entrance again, not just teasing lightly at the edge this time. Ben whimpered around John’s cock and pushed backwards into his touch when John circled a fingertip just inside him. John paused, pulling his other hand back to rest on Ben’s shoulder. “Are you up to it after last night, Ben?”

“Mm… I feel fine,” Ben answered as he pulled his mouth off John.

“You’re sure? It has been a little while.” He hadn’t taken Ben all that hard, but it had turned into a rather… intense session nonetheless, and it was the first time they’d done anything in weeks.

Ben twisted around enough to look back at John. “Yes,” he replied with a smile. “You know I’ll tell you if it hurts at all. Even a little.”

John relaxed again. “All right, then,” he said, and Ben’s mouth was back on his cock even before John finished speaking, making his words trail off into a soft, gasping moan. John circled his fingers over Ben’s entrance again a few more times, then slipped his hand down and forward between Ben’s legs to wrap loosely around his erection. Stroking Ben in a slow, almost lazy motion, John started thrusting his hips up in the same rhythm and Ben put his other hand down on the bed, bracing himself on both arms. John could hear Ben moaning, the sound muffled by his cock as he slowly fucked his sergeant’s mouth.

John groaned, his hand tightening on Ben’s shoulder as he sped up a little despite himself. “I certainly don’t mind if you want to finish me off like this, Jones, but if you _do_ want something else you may want to go find the lube instead.”

Ben responded by pushing his mouth further down John’s length, and John gasped and stilled the movement of his hips as he felt Ben take him partway down his throat for a moment before pulling off John’s cock with an obscenely wet sound that made John quiver. Letting go of Ben, John pulled his hand out from between the sergeant’s legs and Ben levered himself upright onto his knees, turning to look at John with a smug smirk on his face. He’d gotten very good at this, very quickly, and he knew it, too.

“Mmm… show-off,” John said, and Ben’s smile deepened as John took his hand, lacing their fingers together, and pulled him down for a long kiss, tasting the sweet hint of his own precome on Ben’s tongue. Ben broke the kiss this time, moving across the bed to rifle through the bedside table. Pulling out the lube, Ben handed it to John and sat back on his heels, open knees against John’s side and his bottom lip caught between his teeth, just watching as the DCI studied him with a small smile. Ben’s cock twitched under John’s gaze, bobbing up between his legs, and his hands tightened briefly on his own thighs.

“Go on… touch yourself for me, Jones,” John ordered, running his hand up Ben’s thigh and onto his arse. Ben’s breath hitched slightly, colour rising in his cheeks as he closed a hand around his cock and started stroking himself slowly with a soft groan. John's smile grew as he watched Ben’s hand moving up and down his hard length. “Mmm… nipples too, sergeant. You know I like what that does to you.”

Ben flushed beet red but reached his other hand up across his chest, his body twitching at his own touch. It was ridiculously hot and John’s cock throbbed with desire, twitching against his belly as he watched Ben pleasuring himself, the sergeant’s breath coming in shallow little pants.

“Up,” John finally said with a little push against Ben’s arse, and Ben knelt upright, knees wide, the front of his thighs pressed against John's side. “And don't stop what you're doing,” John added with a smirk.

“No, sir,” Ben said with a groan, stroking himself above John's chest with one hand, the other still playing with his own nipple, occasional tremors running through his body. John opened the lube and trickled some directly onto Ben’s cock. Ben jerked and let out a gasp but didn’t stop, working the lube over his hard length, the sight and the slick sound making John’s breath come faster.

“Bend over,” he ordered, slicking his own fingers and dropping the bottle onto the bed. Panting slightly, Ben leaned over John, putting one hand down on the mattress on John’s other side, the other still stroking his cock over top of the DCI’s chest. John moved his hand around behind Ben and worked his fingers over Ben’s entrance, getting him slick and warm before slipping a finger inside. Ben moaned as John slid his finger in, burying it inside Ben bit by bit, working the lube deeper. Pulling back, John added another finger, pausing partway in as Ben let out a deep groan. “Still okay?”

Ben nodded. “Completely… ahh… don’t stop,” he answered with another groan, and John obliged, sliding his fingers further into Ben’s heat and back out again.

The angle was slightly awkward, but Ben opened easily as John fingered him, and the view of Ben stroking his cock in time with John's movement kept sending fresh sparks of arousal through the DCI. Ignoring his own aching cock for the moment, John fucked Ben slowly on his fingers, watching Ben get more and more turned on as he did, a flush creeping up the sergeant’s chest and neck. Ben was panting harder, the moans escaping his lips coming louder and more frequently. The movement of Ben’s hand was getting jerkier as he stroked himself, obviously trying not to speed up, his cock leaking a trail of precome down onto John's chest.

“Mmmm… What should I do with you now, Jones?” John mused, desire turning his voice husky, not stopping the movement of his hand behind Ben. “Should I get you to come on my fingers like this? Make you spill yourself all over me and then have you suck my cock?” Ben actually _whined_ at that, his body quivering, flush deepening, and John felt his erection pulse insistently in response. “Or, maybe I should just go ahead and take you. Fuck you good and hard, until you're begging to finish.”

Punctuating his words with a sharper push of his fingers, John buried them as deep as he could inside Ben and then left them there while his sergeant squirmed and whimpered.

“Ahh - god… fuck me, sir, _please,_ ” Ben finally gasped, his back arching and his hand dropping down onto the bed as he tried to buck himself back and forth on John’s fingers. Groaning at the sight, John fumbled one-handed for the lube where he'd dropped it on the bed earlier.

“Get me ready then, sergeant,” he said, not even bothering to try and keep his voice steady.

Ben grabbed the bottle from him and twisted down the bed a little. The shift in position gave John a better angle and he pulled his fingers back and finally added a third. Ben groaned, leaning over John’s hips as he opened the bottle. This time it was John who jerked and gasped at the sudden cold feeling of lube dripping onto his cock, and then Ben’s warm hand closed around him, slicking it evenly over John’s hard length.

When Ben was as open and slippery as John could get him like this, he carefully pulled his fingers out. Still on his knees, Ben turned to look back at John, expectant, his hand still stroking, his cheeks flushed and his breath coming fast.

John smiled. “Get on top of me,” he ordered, reaching down under Ben and closing his already slick fingers around the base of his own cock.

Ben clambered onto him, straddling John’s hips, and John reached up with his other hand to pull Ben down into a fierce, sloppy kiss, all panting breath and nipping teeth. Ben gasped, trembling, when John started rubbing the head of his cock over Ben’s hole without pushing in at all, and John buried his face in Ben’s neck as he did, nipping, sucking, feeling his sergeant’s breath hot on his skin. Ben was panting against him, biting at John's shoulder, needy little whimpers escaping his lips.

“I'm going to enjoy watching you fuck yourself on my cock, Jones,” John growled in Ben’s ear.

Ben groaned and shuddered, then pushed up onto his hands and slowly pressed himself back against John’s slick, throbbing erection. John held himself steady, gritting his teeth against the urge to thrust upwards as he felt Ben sink down over the head of his cock, hot and tight.

Moving his hands from the bed and onto John’s shoulders instead, Ben raised his hips back up just a little, then pushed further down with a moan, taking John deeper inside him. Letting go of himself, John moved both hands to grip his sergeant’s hips, groaning, trembling as Ben slowly enveloped his cock.

Ben went a little further each time, until he was fucking himself up and down most of John’s hard length, rocking back and forth on top of the DCI, both of them panting hard. Moving one hand up Ben’s chest to the side of his neck, John stroked the line of Ben’s jaw with his thumb, their eyes locked on one another as Ben moved on him.

“Still good?” he asked, as softly as he could given how hard he was breathing.

 _“So_ good,” Ben answered with a short exhalation of breath that was halfway between a laugh and gasp, and John smiled.

Biting his lower lip, groaning, forcing himself to hold off and just let Ben go at him, John watched Ben ride his cock, slowly speeding up. They hadn’t done this before, and Ben occasionally lost his rhythm and had to slow down again, or stop briefly and restart after adjusting his position on John. The look on Ben’s face, of concentration mingling with pleasure, and the occasional frustrated whine he let out when he faltered, just made the whole thing even more erotic. Ben was downright stunning like this, his skin sheened with sweat, and John couldn’t help running a hand over his sergeant’s body, feeling Ben’s muscles flexing as he moved.

It was only when Ben’s thighs were starting to quiver against John’s waist that he finally drew his legs up slightly and thrust up to meet Ben as the sergeant rocked down onto him, burying himself deeper than Ben had been going on his own. Ben gasped and shuddered, his legs tight on John's sides, fingernails raking across John’s chest as his hands curled into fists.

His eyes fixed on John’s, Ben pulled himself up, and John thrust up to meet him again as Ben _shoved_ himself back down on John’s cock with a deep groan of “ahh fuck… _sir…_ ”

“Are you going to come for me, sergeant?” John asked, breathless, holding Ben’s gaze and thrusting again, harder, pulling his knees up higher for leverage.

Ben shuddered again as he reached down and started pumping his cock with a shivering moan. Taking hold of Ben’s hips in both hands, bracing his feet on the mattress, John canted his own hips further up and started fucking Ben in earnest, driving himself up into Ben’s slick heat over and over. Ben was raised up on his knees over John, one hand on the bed just above John’s shoulder and the other working his own cock, and John already knew neither of them was going to last much longer.

As he sped up, jolting his sergeant forward with each sharp thrust, Ben was going to pieces on top of him, fisting his cock harder, frantic, a series of urgent and barely intelligible pleas falling from his lips between panting grunts and moans. “...oh god, faster sir, please, fuck me harder, John - yes - fuck - I need -”

John finally let himself off his self-imposed leash, letting loose and just _fucking_ Ben as hard as he could, harder than he ever had before, holding Ben’s hips so tight he knew he was going to leave marks and loving every second of it.

“Yes… that’s it… come for me, Jones, come all over me, I want to feel it,” John ground out, and with a desperate cry of _yes-yes-yes-fuck-John-_ and then a wail, Ben came, hard, his whole body jerking, spasming as he spurted out over John’s stomach and up onto his chest.

John shuddered, gasping as he felt the hot, wet streaks of Ben’s come hitting his skin, and then Ben collapsed down on top of him, shaking, the sergeant’s hand still pumping spastically between them. No longer aware of anything beyond Ben’s weight on his chest, Ben’s teeth sharp in the flesh of his shoulder, and Ben’s arse tight around his cock, John kept going, slamming himself into his sergeant again and again until he exploded inside Ben so hard he saw stars bursting in his vision.

Gasping for breath, John lay there feeling Ben’s chest heaving against his own, tremors shaking through them both. Ben shifted, moving as though to raise himself up off of John, and John wrapped his arms around the sergeant.

“Stay, Ben. You feel good,” he panted.

“ ‘m not too heavy?” Ben mumbled against his shoulder.

“Not even close,” John answered, and he felt Ben’s weight relax down onto him again, a shivering sigh escaping the sergeant’s lips. After a long, long pause, during which Ben pressed wet, sporadic, half-kisses against his skin as their breathing slowly steadied, John started to reach down with one hand. “I should…”

“Mm no, not yet,” Ben murmured, and John felt his sergeant smiling against him. _“You_ feel good.”

John smiled too, moving his arm back onto Ben for the time being. “It wasn’t too much?”

Propping himself up on one arm, still lying on top of the DCI, Ben shook his head where it rested on his hand, his eyes on John’s.

“No,” he said with a thoroughly sated-looking smile, “it was… it was amazing.” John raised his head up to press a soft kiss to Ben’s lips, then relaxed back down again, returning his sergeant’s gaze, feeling like he could quite happily spend the entire day lost in the warm depths of Ben’s eyes.

It was Ben who looked away first, a small frown furrowing his brow as he leaned over and peered past John’s neck.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked, concern apparent in his voice, and John felt Ben’s fingers running carefully over his shoulder. His skin was still tingling, stinging slightly where Ben had bit him hard at the end.

“No,” John answered, then amended, “Well, I mean, yes, but… in a good way. I liked it. Quite a lot.” Ben’s frown faded and a small smile flitted over his lips instead as his eyes wandered over John’s neck and shoulders and chest, fingertips tracing along the same path. He had the look of a man admiring his handiwork, and John could feel Ben’s fingers pausing on his skin, little tingles running through him as the sergeant brushed over all the tender spots and marks his mouth and fingers had left behind.

Unfortunately, with Ben shifting around and the amount of time that had passed since John had finished, things were becoming slightly precarious and he had no choice but to interrupt the moment. Ben made his usual face when John carefully pulled out, and John couldn’t help the quiet chuckle that escaped his lips.

“What?” Ben asked, looking down at him from all fours. John was pretty sure Ben didn’t even realize that he briefly squinched his face up like that, every single time. It was adorable. In an admittedly dirty sort of way, but still adorable.

“Nothing,” John answered with a smile. “Just happy.”

Ben slipped onto his side with a contented sigh, staying half draped over top of John and leaning in for another soft kiss. John eventually rolled out from under Ben to dig out the wet wipes they'd long since started keeping in the bedside table along with the lube, and they both gave themselves a cursory clean up before cuddling back up together.

Lying on his side, limbs entwined with Ben’s, John returned Ben's earlier kiss in kind. It stayed gentle, relaxed, as they quietly caressed each other with lips and hands and tongues, all urgency having been completely drained away with orgasm, and John felt a peaceful warmth spreading out through him from his very core. He had no idea how long they’d been like that, lightly kissing and touching, generally just drifting in a dazed sort of afterglow, when Ben’s stomach abruptly growled into the comfortable silence. Ben blushed, and John smiled.

“I suppose we really ought to think about actually getting up at some point,” he murmured, resting his forehead against Ben’s.

Ben made a soft dismayed sound. “Just a little while longer. I don’t…” He trailed off, hesitating, his lips moving and pausing the way they did when he wanted to say something but wasn’t quite sure how.

“Don’t what?” John asked gently.

There was a long pause. “I wish… I don’t want to have to go yet,” came the quiet response.

John pressed a kiss to Ben’s forehead, silent for a long moment. He’d honestly forgotten, caught up in the intimate comfort of last night and this morning, that Ben couldn’t just… stay. That he wouldn’t still be there this evening, for the two of them to greet Sarah with supper when she got home from work. That they wouldn't all eventually fall asleep in one another's arms again tonight.

“I don’t want you to have to go at all,” John finally said, holding Ben a little tighter, feeling like it wasn't enough but not really knowing what else there was _to_ say.

Ben huffed out a short not-quite-laugh. “Not much choice though.”

“No… unfortunately. But we still have some time yet,” John said, tilting Ben’s chin up to meet his eyes. “If you want to let me have a quick shower first, you can take your time while I get us some breakfast going. And then I’m sure Sykes could use a good long walk, if… you would care to join us?”

Ben smiled too. “Won’t be too suspicious?” he asked in a wry tone.

“Hmm…” John pulled back to look Ben up and down critically. “You should probably try and look a little more hungover and a little less like…”

“A little less like what?”

“Like someone who's recently had a rather spectacular orgasm?” John suggested, then laughed when Ben blushed bright red. “Well you _are_ still kind of glowing, there, Jones,” he added with a smirk.

“I thought you were supposed to be going to shower,” Ben muttered, but he said it with a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth and didn’t exactly protest either when John leaned in and kissed him again, notably less gently this time.

“I will…” John replied, then covered Ben’s mouth with his again and rolled Ben onto his back, straddling his hips, grinning as he felt Ben’s renewed interest stirring under him. The sergeant really did have a wonderful refractory period. “...eventually.” 

And he would, soon enough. But it wasn't all _that_ late in the morning, and they _were_ off work, and that was really all the excuse John needed to avoid returning to reality just yet, to delay putting the barriers back up again and stay here in bed with Ben instead.

For just a little while longer.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope the chapter was worth the wait! It's probably still a bit rough around the edges, life got *super* busy this week and I may be just a wee bit exhausted o.O


	13. A successful plan (Part 1)

 

Pushing her husband down onto the couch in their living room, Sarah Barnaby climbed onto his lap, straddling his hips and leaning in for a long, deep kiss. She heard Ben come into the room and start moving around behind her, presumably getting the laptop set up. Eventually breaking the kiss, Sarah let a grin spread across her face as she met John's eyes, making sure she was blocking his view of what Ben was doing. John obviously knew something was up, but was apparently content to let things play out. Not that he had much choice in the matter today.

“Ben and I have decided that we are going to have our way with you tonight,” Sarah informed him, toying her fingers in his hair.

“Mmm… is that so?” John replied, lips quirking up into a smile as he ran his hands down her back to cup her arse, his hips shifting under her.

“Yes it is,” Sarah replied, leaning down to kiss him again, keeping him distracted and giving Ben time to finish setting up. She pulled away from the kiss again when Ben squeezed in beside them on the couch with a blush already staining his cheeks. Sarah smirked, raising an eyebrow at John. “We've got a little surprise for you, to start.”

John looked at her, curious, a mildly amused smile playing around the corners of his mouth. Sarah grinned again. _Let's see just how long that composure lasts, shall we…_ Twisting off John’s lap, she settled down on his other side so that he was sandwiched between her and Ben. Sarah kept her eyes on John for the moment so she could see his face when he caught sight of the computer screen on the low table in front of the couch, and more importantly, what was now playing _on_ that screen.

“What..?” he started to ask, then just trailed off, his eyes widening and his lips parting.

Sarah smirked, pleased with the reaction, and turned her eyes to the laptop as well. It was showing the same couch they were sitting on, the camera angle obviously from the table the laptop was currently occupying, but pushed further away from the couch than usual. It was also showing Ben and Sarah, pressed tightly together, arms around each other as they kissed, passionate, intense. Sarah was backing towards the couch, one hand shoved down the back of Ben’s jeans, the other behind his head, and both of Ben’s hands were running up her back, bunching her shirt up over her ribs. Ben hadn’t forgotten to turn the volume up, and Sarah could hear the little scuffles and thumps of their movement on the playback.

As the three of them watched, Ben so red he seemed to be glowing and Sarah feeling more than a little flushed as well, Sarah could hear John's breath quickening already at the sight of her and Ben going at each other on the screen, not quite frantic but not far off either, mouths urgent, tearing each other’s shirts off before dropping down onto the couch with Ben on top. The knowledge that John would be watching this later had been, unsurprisingly, a huge turn-on for both of them.

They had actually been planning to do it for some time now. That debacle with the local horror film star a couple months ago had set John off on a serious bad-movie kick for a while, and she and Ben had somehow reached the conclusion one evening that if John wanted to watch low quality movies filled with amateurs, well, maybe they should go ahead and make him one of their own. There had been a few drinks involved, and Sarah couldn't remember which of them had come up with the idea in the first place, but it had stuck and they'd been waiting for an opportunity to act on it ever since. They'd finally gotten the chance a few days ago, when John had had a mandatory, full-day bureaucratic refresher course of some kind to attend.

“When did -” John started asking, and Sarah hushed him with a finger to his lips.

“Do you like it?” she asked seriously, searching John’s eyes, and he nodded without any hesitation. “Then watch now, talk later,” Sarah said, smiling.

Moving her hand down again, she ran her fingers lightly over the top of John’s thigh, Ben’s hand already on John's other knee. On the screen, she and Ben were kissing, topless, Ben’s hips between her legs and the sound of their breathing hot and heavy as they rutted against each other through their jeans. Sarah caught Ben’s eye across John and they shared a grin before leaning in to start working on him together, each nuzzling into their side of his neck.

Running her hand up the inside of John’s thigh, Sarah palmed his already full erection through his trousers, listening to their progress on the video. She and Ben had been rather loud and dirty from start to finish, largely for John’s benefit, though admittedly also because they had _thoroughly_ enjoyed themselves as well. It had the added bonus now of making it easy for her to keep track of what John was currently watching even though she couldn't see the screen herself. Not to mention, bringing back vivid memories of exactly what she’d been feeling at the time.

_The sounds of panting, a zipper, some shuffling and a stifled giggle as Ben yanked her jeans off, just as impatient as she'd been, the undressing made slightly awkward by the confines of the couch and the fact that Ben was already between her legs._

As she rubbed John’s cock over top of his clothing, Sarah kept nipping and kissing at his neck. Ben was doing the same on John’s other side, only his hand was running up John’s front, pushing his shirt up to his chest. John was breathing hard between them, occasional soft sounds of pleasure escaping his lips.

_A gasp and a long moan, her own, when Ben knelt down on the floor, burying his face between her legs, and she'd already been so wet and ready for him he hadn't bothered with the slow wind-up, just dove right in, licking, fingering, making her squirm and moan on the couch, her hand in Ben’s hair and her legs wide open towards the camera for John._

Sarah pulled back, undoing John’s trousers as Ben worked John’s shirt over his head. Ben started in on his neck again, and Sarah slipped down onto the floor, tugging the rest of John’s clothes off as she went. Dropping them to the side, she knelt between his legs and ran her tongue up the full length of his cock, making him groan above her. As Sarah worked her tongue over John, up and down, swirling over the tip, Ben was rapidly working his way down John’s body. He joined Sarah on the floor before long, pushing John’s knees open wider to make room for both of them. They had purposely set up the laptop where John should get a good view of both the video _and_ the two of them between his legs. Sarah could hear John letting out short, panting moans above them as she and Ben exchanged wet and sloppy kisses around his hard cock, licking and teasing at him mercilessly. Sarah was holding John’s erection up for her and Ben both to work at, not stroking at all, their tongues everywhere, lips running over the head of John’s cock and back down but never quite closing over him.

_Her own voice, panting, needy, telling Ben how badly she wants him to fuck her, to feel him inside her so she can come on his cock._

John’s breath stuttered, and not in response to anything she or Ben had done to him just then. Sarah circled her tongue around the head of his cock again, then finally took him into her mouth. John was already mostly coated in her and Ben’s saliva at this point, and her lips slid easily down his hard length as he let out a deep groan above her.

_The sound of a zipper again, almost immediately followed by sudden sharp gasps and then moans from her and Ben both as Ben plunged his cock into her, his jeans halfway down his thighs, one of her legs over his shoulder against the back of the couch and the other as wide open as she could get it to make room for her hand to work her clit while Ben pounded into her._

Sarah and Ben took turns, one sucking John’s cock while the other lapped at his balls, switching back and forth, working him up and still not using their hands at all. Sarah could feel John’s arousal building as he trembled under her and Ben, panting and groaning, body occasionally quivering in reaction to their video.

_Ben’s grunts, her own pants and moans as she built higher, the light smack of skin hitting skin over and over, then her voice gasping ‘oh god, Ben, yes, right there right there’ because Ben had leaned further forward over top of her with her leg still up on his shoulder, pulling her hips up with him, his cock hitting her sweet spot dead on and sending waves of fire flashing through her body with each hard thrust._

John shuddered, groaning, trying to thrust up into Ben’s mouth, and Sarah couldn't help grinning as she saw Ben pull his mouth _off_ John in response. John whimpered incoherently with need and frustration as, in an unspoken agreement, they held his hips down and went back to only licking him, making him squirm desperately but denying him enough stimulation to actually come yet.

_Her own barely coherent cries that she was almost there, so close, and at the same time Ben’s panting voice mixing with hers, growling ‘that's it, oh yeah, come on me, Sarah, fuck,’ and she’d climaxed then, coming long and hard, so hard she'd squealed, crying out Ben’s name as he kept right on driving his cock into her over and over without slowing, drawing out her orgasm until she was almost sobbing from pleasure._

Sarah climbed back up onto the couch next to John, keeping her hand wrapped around the base of his cock, while Ben pushed one of John’s legs up and tugged his hips towards the edge of the couch. John was an absolute wreck by now, his breath stuttering in and out, twitching at her and Ben’s every touch and letting them direct his movements as they liked. Sarah finally took his cock back into her mouth even as Ben dragged his tongue down from John’s balls to his arse, and John moaned, long and loud, his fingers tightening on Sarah’s where she'd taken his hand and purposely pinned it to the couch beneath her.

 _Ben gasping, moaning because he was so close and holding off as long as he could despite the ferocious pace; the rhythmic sound of him slamming into her from behind because she’d turned over onto all fours, arse in the air with Ben’s hands yanking on her hips as he thrust; her continuing cries urging him on because Ben’s hard cock pumping in and out of her had felt_ so _fucking good that she may as well still have been coming._

Sarah could feel and hear John rapidly building towards release now that she and Ben weren’t teasing anymore. Knowing what was coming next on the playback, she sped up, working her hand and mouth up and down John’s entire hard length, her lips against her fingers where they were closed around his cock.

_The slapping of skin-on-skin abruptly gone as Ben pulled out to finish with his hand, a few harsh, grunting breaths and then Ben loudly gasping her name, mixed with her own panting groans and whimpers as the unmistakable hot splashes over her arse and all the way up her back sent twitches and shivers running through her._

Ben still had his face buried in John’s arse as Sarah sucked him hard and fast, and John convulsed between them, gasping out a hoarse, wordless cry, his cock throbbing harder in Sarah’s hand as he filled her mouth in hot spurts. Swallowing some of it but not all, Sarah knelt upright to kiss John, knowing full well how much he loved tasting himself in her mouth. When John’s tongue met hers, still covered in his come, he moaned brokenly, shivering, kissing her back harder, needy, his breath coming in ragged, uneven pants.

As Sarah eased John down from his release, her own core burning, pulsing insistently with desire and arousal, she heard Ben turning around and shutting down the laptop again. Sarah pulled back from the kiss, looking at John and licking her lips. Flushed and panting and disheveled, he was just staring back at her open-mouthed with a stunned look in his eyes, and Sarah felt a slow smile creeping over her face.

It was _fun,_ the rare times she saw that tight self-control of his shaken loose. Over the, what, half a year or so now that Ben had been with them, it was generally either Sarah or Ben in the middle, with John occasionally only watching and leaving her and Ben to do what they liked with each other, and either way, John pretty much _always_ managed to hold himself off until Sarah and Ben had both lost the plot at least once. Not that either of them minded, not at all. But they had decided it was high time for John to be the one driven to the edge of insanity with mindless desire for a change. That was the goal for tonight, anyway, and Sarah reckoned this had been a very good start. Standing up, she tugged John’s hand towards her.

“Come to bed, love,” Sarah said, her smile widening. “We're not done with you yet.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO the idea for this chapter popped into my head one day after I'd already started planning Part 2 (which of course, wasn't intended to BE a part 2 at the time) and it wouldn't go away, but I wasn't sure I'd manage to write it. I had no idea how I would actually structure it, and I was nervous about getting a Sarah POV right... and then the damn thing pretty much wrote itself and I was like... well then.
> 
> Anyway, pardon the hyperness, I'm just tickled that it seems to have turned out well and I'd love to hear what you all thought of it! Whether you think it's good or bad or just plain meh ;)
> 
> -xx


	14. A successful plan (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2! Just a liiiiittle more smut before I wrap things up 0;-)

 

“Well. That was a surprise,” John said.

Sarah smiled. “That  _ was  _ kind of the point, yes,” she replied, running her fingers over John’s chest and wriggling herself more firmly against his side. Ben was nipping and kissing at John’s shoulder, pressed up to him across from Sarah and letting out little humming sounds as he did. They had barely made it up the stairs before she and Ben had started stripping out of their clothes, and John’s were still strewn about the living room downstairs. 

“We know you don’t like surprises,” Ben added, raising his head to look at John with a small smile on his lips, “but we thought this might be an exception to that rule.”

John chuckled, still slightly breathless. “Well if they were all this pleasant, I’d certainly like them a whole lot more.”

Sarah grinned and leaned up onto John to press a kiss to his lips, and John slipped an arm around her, tugging her further on top of him, deepening their kiss. A moan welled up in the back of her throat as she slid one leg over top of John’s, pushing her crotch up against his thigh. The arousal that had subsided slightly while they’d moved from the couch to the bed flared up again, hot and insistent, throbbing between her legs, and Sarah climbed on top of John as they kissed, pressing her body to his, Ben shifting back slightly to give her legroom. 

“I’m afraid I won’t be much use to you for a while yet,” John murmured after a moment, glancing down between them with a playfully rueful smile.

“Oh, don’t you worry, I think we can entertain ourselves well enough in the meantime,” Sarah replied with a smile, then turned her head to meet Ben’s lips with hers. 

John’s hands ran up the outside of Sarah’s thighs and over her arse to her lower back as she twined her tongue with Ben’s, their breath coming faster again, his cock hot and hard against the outside of her leg. Ben was moving, rubbing against her the same way she was against John, and Sarah pulled back slightly from the kiss to let John take her place, watching his lips meet Ben’s, Ben’s eyes fluttering shut with a soft moan against John’s mouth. 

Sarah shivered with desire when she felt Ben’s hand run up the back and inside of her thigh, his fingers sliding between her lips and over her entrance. She was still wet and slippery, still ridiculously turned on from what they’d done to John downstairs, and Ben’s fingers slid easily inside her. Ben pulled back from John, his mouth moving to Sarah’s shoulder, and she leaned back in with a groan to kiss John hard, feeling him smiling against her lips as she rocked back and forth on top of him, fucking herself onto Ben’s fingers, aching to be filled.

Ben eventually levered himself upright onto his knees, his fingers slipping out of Sarah again as he moved around behind her so they were both straddling John together. Sarah raised her hips, anticipation thrilling through her as she felt Ben positioning himself with one hand on her arse, John’s hands tightening on her hips at the same time. 

“Ahh - god, yes,” Sarah gasped as she felt the hard heat of Ben’s cock stretch her open, Ben groaning behind her as he pushed in, filling her up until his hips were right up against her arse. Sarah leaned down to kiss John again as Ben started moving in her with long, deep thrusts, pulling out until she could feel just the head of his cock in her entrance, sliding back in as far as he could, making her moan against John’s lips. 

“Mmm… tell me how it feels,” John murmured, his hands gripping Sarah’s hips as Ben rocked her back and forth over top of him. 

Sarah smiled, nipping at John’s bottom lip before moving her lips to his ear, more than happy to oblige. John always got incredibly turned on by the dirty talk, and so Sarah kept up a running litany, telling him how amazing Ben felt fucking her, how hard his cock was inside her, how wet she was from making John come downstairs, how hot it had been, filming themselves together for him. 

As Sarah spoke, her breath coming in soft pants as Ben fucked her from behind, John moved one hand off her hip and in between her legs. Sarah moaned, shuddering with need when his fingers slipped back and forth across her clit, wet and stiff and positively throbbing with arousal. John shifted, reaching a little lower to where Sarah was stretched open on Ben’s cock, and then further again, and Sarah felt Ben’s hands tighten on her hips, felt his thrust drive into her a little harder as he let out another groan.

“Wouldn’t you rather taste us, John?” Sarah breathed into his ear, and he shivered under her. “Taste me all over Ben’s hard cock while he fucks me, make me come on both of you?”

John groaned something that might have been “god, yes,” and started shimmying down the bed underneath her and Ben. Sarah spread her knees wider, both to make room for John and to lower herself closer to the mattress as well, dropping down onto her elbows at the same time. Once she was low enough, Ben leaned down over her, his arms to either side of her, his hands down on the mattress. The shift in position angled Ben down inside her too, thrusting right onto her sweet spot, and she could feel Ben moving above her, his front against her back, his lips on her shoulder blade, his breath hot as he panted against her skin.

“Oh god, John,” Ben groaned, shuddering against her, and then Sarah trembled too as John’s tongue swiped up from Ben’s cock and over her clit. Ben stopped moving almost entirely, buried halfway inside Sarah while John ran his tongue repeatedly over both of them. After a long moment, Ben started sliding in and out of her again with a moan, and Sarah heard or maybe felt John humming between her legs, his tongue hot and wet against her aching clit.

It was torture; pure, sweet torture between the two of them like this. Ben couldn't go very fast or hard without jolting Sarah off John’s tongue, but once they found a rhythm, Sarah thought she might die from Ben’s slow, deep fucking, his cock hard and slick inside her, while John’s tongue laved over her clit and his breath came hot between her legs.

“Ahhh yes… that’s so good,” Sarah gasped, trembling, her entire body tensing, quivering as she built higher but so agonizingly slowly. The feel of Ben moving against her back as he thrust, sweat slick on both their skin, was setting her every nerve on fire, and then John started flicking his tongue over her, fast and hard. “Oh god, yes, yes, I’m so close, don’t stop, don’t - ahhh - fuck -” Sarah panted, shaking, trying not to writhe herself off John’s tongue, Ben’s cock sending spikes of pleasure shooting up through her core. 

Ben was grunting deep in his chest with every thrust, Sarah could feel the vibration of it through her back, and she was teetering right on the edge, whimpering,  _ needing,  _ desperate for release; and then she was coming hard, her back arching and a keening wail escaping her lips, clenching onto Ben’s cock as he kept driving into her. Sarah found herself panting into the mattress, hands fisted in the sheets and her face between her elbows with no memory of even dropping her head down. 

“Fuck, harder, Ben, fuck me harder,” Sarah gasped, still shaking. With a deep groan and no hesitation, Ben did, plowing into her harder and faster, drawing out her orgasm, and she couldn't help crying out with every thrust, still spasming around his cock as he drove deep inside her. Sarah arched her back further into it, raising her arse up higher, vaguely aware that John wasn’t licking her anymore but hadn’t moved out from between her legs at all. 

“Oh god, Sarah, I’m gonna come,” Ben ground out, his voice a heated growl.

“Yes yes yes, come in me, Ben, do it, I want it,” Sarah whimpered, shivering. She knew she was all but incoherent at this point and couldn’t care less, and then with one last hard thrust and a wordless cry, Ben was coming in her. Sarah could feel him shuddering over top of her, could feel his cock pulsing, hot, deep inside her, and she almost felt like she was coming again herself. 

After a moment, both of them panting and twitching, Ben knelt upright behind her and Sarah felt his hand slip between them. He started pulling out of her and then stopped again, his body jerking as he gasped “ahhh - John,  _ fuck.” _

Sarah looked down the bed underneath herself. She couldn't see much, but it was enough to know that John was doing exactly what she had suggested before and was tasting them both, licking her juices off Ben’s cock. Ben slowly resumed pulling out of her, panting, and then just before he was out of her completely, Sarah felt John’s tongue as well, lapping at her entrance, and she let out a shivering groan.

Sarah straightened, kneeling upright too, looking down at John still working between her legs while Ben’s arms wrapped around her from behind, one hand cupping her breast and the other sliding over her stomach as she quivered. Sarah couldn't help whimpering, the feeling of Ben’s come slowly leaking out of her utterly unmistakable, John licking it out of her as it did, sliding his tongue inside her and making appreciative humming noises, no less.

Shivering, Sarah arched back into Ben’s wandering mouth, hot at her neck and shoulder. God, she loved it when John got this dirty, and she knew what it did to him, too. Which was perfect, because as she'd told him earlier… they weren't done with him yet. Still panting slightly, twitching from the movements of John’s tongue in her, Sarah grinned. If John wasn't hard again already, he would be very shortly. 

“What do you think… have we given him enough of a break yet?” Sarah asked Ben, somewhat breathless, tilting her head back and to the side towards him.

“Mmm yeah, I think so,” Ben answered, and Sarah felt his grin against her shoulder.

John turned his head, kissing the inside of Sarah’s thigh as Ben moved away to get the lube, and Sarah slipped onto her side, tugging at John until he moved up the bed to lie on his back next to her. Sarah leaned in and kissed him, humming with pleasure at the combined taste of herself and Ben in John's mouth and trailing her fingers down John’s front until she reached his cock, finding him already more than halfway to hard.

“Mmm… enjoyed yourself, I take it,” Sarah murmured with a smile, and John made a wordless noise of agreement against her lips, twitching slightly when she ran her fingers down his length. Ben was pushing John’s legs open, working a pillow underneath him and settling down on the bed, and Sarah held out her hand, palm up. “Ben - would you mind?” she asked, and Ben obligingly popped the lube open with a grin and squirted some into her palm.

John moaned softly, looking down as Sarah closed her fingers around his cock, and Ben just watched for a moment as well, his lower lip caught between his teeth, as Sarah worked her hand over John, liberally slicking his entire length. Sarah started stroking John lazily and Ben lowered his head, pushing John’s legs up and burying his face in John’s arse for the second time that evening. Settling herself in comfortably against John’s side, Sarah let her gaze wander freely between John’s face, her own hand on his cock, and Ben between his legs. 

“You liked watching us fuck, didn’t you, love,” she said to him quietly, meaning both the video before and just now. “And tasting us both like that… I think it turned you on as much as me and Ben, didn't it? Mmm… Do you know what we’re going to do with you now? I bet you've already figured it out, haven't you.”

John was breathing hard as Sarah spoke, his gaze fixed down where she was stroking his stiff, slicked cock and Ben was licking at his arse. Ben knew John’s limits, and they all knew he wouldn't do any more than John was comfortable with, so Sarah kept rambling, saying whatever came to mind, just wanting to get him worked up, letting the intensity grow in her voice.

“We’re going to fuck you, Ben and I, both of us at the same time. We’re going to make you come for us again. You’ll be able to taste yourself in me next, if you want, and this time Ben will be in you instead of in me.” 

John whimpered, a tremor running through him, and Sarah kept going, still stroking him slowly, feeling his cock twitch in her hand.

“Has he got his tongue in you yet? Yes? Mmm I thought so, it’s making you so hard… He's so good at that, isn't he? And it's going to feel even better when he's fucking you with his fingers next. He's going to get you so hard for me. I can't wait for you to fill me up, fuck me after Ben fucked me already, getting his come all over your cock.” 

A shivering groan escaped John’s lips and he opened his knees wider, his hips jerking under Sarah’s hand. 

“You want Ben inside you too, love? Feel him sliding in, nice and slippery?” Sarah breathed, and when John shuddered and ground out a fervent  _ yes,  _ Ben raised his head and opened up the lube again. Sarah grinned appreciatively when he added a bit more to John’s cock for her first, then slicked up his own fingers. She could see Ben’s face now, bottom lip caught between his teeth again as he brought his hand down between John’s legs, and then John gasped and trembled against her. 

Sarah stroked him just a little harder, still talking as Ben fingered him. She knew she was starting to repeat herself a little by this point, but John didn't seem to notice or care. And then before long, Ben evidently found his prostate and he probably wasn't really hearing Sarah anymore anyway. 

As they continued working at him, Ben stroking his sweet spot and Sarah stroking his cock, John completely lost any semblance of control, groaning, panting, his hips bucking between their hands. He was rock hard in her hand and once his cock started leaking precome onto her fingers, Sarah worked it around, spreading it over his length along with the lube before pushing herself to her knees. Briefly letting go of him, Sarah straddled John’s stomach on all fours and then shifted her way down, reaching between her legs, positioning his cock and settling herself back and down until she had John just inside her entrance.

Letting go with her hand once more, Sarah leaned down over John, wiggling a little on purpose as she covered his mouth with hers, smiling as he moaned against her lips, trembling beneath her. Sarah slowly sank down onto him, both of them slick and wet, groaning with pleasure as John’s hard length slid smoothly inside her. She couldn't take him all the way in because his legs were still open for Ben, but it was more than enough to make John shudder underneath her as she started fucking herself on him.

Sarah moved slow and deliberate at first, speeding up as John rapidly came completely undone between the two of them, shaking under her, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps and bitten-off moans. Sarah could tell he was almost there, and she fucked him as hard as she could without getting in Ben’s way. 

“Oh yes, that's it, come for us, John, I want to feel you fill me up, come on, come in me, love, yes -” Sarah panted into John’s ear, and as she spoke, John built and built and then came hard, throwing his head back, crying out and spasming under her over and over. Sarah rode him through wave after wave of orgasm, feeling Ben still moving in him behind her, and they both slowed bit by bit, easing John back down again as he trembled and whimpered under Sarah, his legs quaking against her. 

When John’s legs dropped back down to the bed, Sarah sank down further onto him with a groan, burying John as deep inside her as she could and letting all her weight rest on him, feeling his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. Ben moved away briefly, to clean up, Sarah assumed, before coming back and lying down with them, a smile on his lips, one hand supporting his head and the other resting on Sarah’s back. 

Sarah leaned in with a smile of her own and planted a kiss on John’s mouth, then pulled away for Ben to have a turn. As the two of them kissed, Sarah buried her face in John’s neck, nuzzling into him and breathing in his familiar scent of arousal and fresh sweat, enjoying the feeling of his and Ben's hands on her back, of the occasional tremor that still shivered through John underneath her.

_ Yep. Definitely fun,  _ Sarah thought, grinning.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're all still enjoying it! Only one chapter to go...


	15. Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...okay, two more chapters.
> 
> ***Spoiler warning for the beginning of season 16***

 

Sarah Barnaby couldn't sleep. Ben was snoring softly beside her, curled up to John’s back with one arm still draped over him, but that wasn’t what was keeping her awake. Turning onto her side, Sarah ran her fingers lightly through Ben’s bed-rumpled hair. Ben murmured something unintelligible in his sleep and tightened his arm around John with a soft sigh, but otherwise didn't stir, and John didn't even twitch. They were both ridiculously cuddly sleepers and usually spent most of the night spooned up together. Sarah had always been more in the _I love you, but get away while I'm asleep_ camp, so it suited her just fine to not be in the middle when it came to the actual sleeping part of sleeping together.

Stifling the urge to check the time yet again, Sarah sighed quietly to herself, still idly stroking Ben’s hair as she just watched him and John sleeping. She was exhausted, but her brain wouldn’t settle down. Normally if she couldn’t get to sleep, she’d slip off quietly to the spare room to relax with a book until she dropped off. This time though, Sarah found she’d rather just stay here. They'd had a… a Talk tonight, after going to bed and before going to sleep. She had started it herself, in fact, because there was no question that it was only fair to tell Ben sooner rather than later.

While they were still lying in the sweaty post-sex tangle of sheets and limbs, Ben in the middle and his come tickling slightly as it leaked back out of her, Sarah had caught John’s eyes briefly and then looked at Ben, hesitating, not quite sure how to say what she wanted to say now that it came down to it. Ben had met her gaze with one of his warm, gentle smiles, waiting, patient, and Sarah’s heart had melted in her chest at the trust in his eyes. She knew him well enough by now to tell that _he_ could tell something was up but wasn’t worried by it. When she’d nervously, excitedly explained she’d be going off birth control very soon because she and John wanted to have a baby, Ben hadn’t even been surprised.

_“I’ve kind of been expecting it, to be honest,” Ben said, turning onto his side to face Sarah and putting his arm around her. Propped up on one hand, John cuddled up behind Ben and stroked his shoulder. “I think it’s wonderful,” Ben added, his smile deepening as he leaned in for a kiss._

_Sarah smiled. She should have known Ben would be genuinely happy for them, but she was worried he would think he no longer had a place in their little triangle of a relationship. She said as much, and Ben assured her he didn’t think that at all, but as Sarah watched, his thoughts turned inwards, his expression slowly becoming pensive, serious, almost brooding._

_“Actually, there’s… something I need to talk to you both about, too,” Ben said, then hesitated. He shuffled over onto his back again before taking a deep breath and continuing, staring straight up at the ceiling. “I have to apply soon if I’m going to take the next inspector’s exam in a few months.”_

That sounded like a good thing, and Sarah hadn’t understood at first why Ben had been reluctant to tell them that, or why John’s expression had briefly gone so wooden at Ben’s words, his hand stilling on Ben’s arm, until Ben explained that if he made DI, it was all but certain he would be transferred out of Causton.

_“But… surely there’s a place here for another inspector?” Sarah asked, looking between Ben and John. John just shook his head and didn’t say anything._

_“Not likely anytime soon,” Ben said. “Other precincts are even more understaffed, especially some of the larger ones, and you don’t get a choice where you’re assigned anyway until you’ve got at least a little seniority.”_

They’d all just lain there quietly for a while, holding each other a little tighter than usual. More than a little. Eventually, Ben had broken the silence to reassure Sarah - and, she suspected, himself as well - that the exam wasn't until early August, and then it would likely take another two or three months after that before results and transfers came through. He'd also made a half-hearted joke about how he’d probably fail the exam and it would all be a moot point anyway, at which point John had given Ben first a fierce kiss and then a telling off for selling himself short. Sarah still wasn’t sure if Ben had heard the way John’s voice cracked ever so slightly when he told Ben he was good enough that he was going to ace the exam even if he had to do it in his sleep, but she had.

Sarah had pointed out that it was all still months away, plenty of time for staffing situations to change, and they never knew what could happen, even though she didn’t really believe it in this case and she could tell from their expressions that Ben and John didn’t either. The voiced and only slightly forced optimism seemed to make them all feel a little better though, and the discussion had lightened a bit after that, moving back to John and Sarah’s plans to grow the family, and what Sykes would think of a brand new tiny human around the house.

They had gotten the bed back in order before long and settled down to go to sleep before it got any later. Unsurprisingly, it hadn’t been a question in anyone’s mind as to whether Ben would stay over tonight or not. He and John had both fallen asleep fairly quickly, but Sarah had lain awake, not upset exactly, just… a little unmoored. Trying not to dwell on how things were inevitably going to change after tonight. Reminding herself that a change didn’t have to mean an end.

Sarah hoped with all her heart that would be true for the three of them as she lay there and listened to John’s and Ben’s slow, steady breathing beside her until she eventually, finally, drifted off herself as well.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Turning onto his back with a sigh, Ben Jones stared up at his ceiling. He couldn't sleep. He was exhausted, and he needed to sleep because he had his exam tomorrow, but he'd been tossing and turning since he closed his eyes, unable to shut his brain down for the night. He was sure he was ready for the exam, he just couldn't believe it was already here.

The months had flown by since Ben had finally accepted that he really did need to take the inspector’s exam or risk torpedoing his entire career, knowing he'd already put it off longer than he should have. Colleagues had started wondering why he still hadn't gone for it yet when he almost could have done way back when Tom retired, and Ben had been running out of reasonable excuses. He couldn't very well tell anyone the truth, after all. That a very big part of him didn’t _want_ to make DI because it would mean being transferred away from Midsomer, away from John and Sarah Barnaby and the most fulfilling relationship he'd ever had.

As it stood, word was that Brighton was looking to be the most likely destination for him by far, which wasn't _so_ bad. It was about as close as Ben could have hoped for, but it was still just far enough away that he wouldn't be able to come back for anything short of a family emergency, not so long as he was on call. He knew that he still had a little time before the results and then the inevitable transfer would come through, assuming he did actually get the promotion, but he also knew he'd be swamped from the get-go in Brighton, or wherever he was sent in the end, and he had no idea how long it would be until he had any kind of time off that would allow him to come back for a visit, and… and it just wasn't fair.

He'd become even closer to Sarah and John as the time had passed, almost as though they were all trying to make up for lost time in advance. And maybe they were. Despite his amount of free time dwindling rapidly, from trying to put in an extra good showing at work and generally preparing for the exam, Ben had continued spending just as much time at the Barnabys’, probably even a little more. They'd all stopped worrying quite so much about appearances in terms of him spending his free time with them at this point. As far as any of them could tell, everyone just thought they were really good friends.

Well. Almost everyone.

Ever since John and Sarah’s anniversary, Ben had had a growing suspicion that Kate knew about the three of them, from the knowing little smirks and the occasional subtle but too-accurate comments she made in passing. Only ever to Ben though, and never around anyone else, for which he was grateful. The first time they'd actually talked about it openly, sort of anyway, the day Ben knew for sure she had figured it out, was when they went out for a drink and Ben told her he was going to take the exam. He and Kate had become close friends, and she was the first person he told after Sarah and John. Unlike everyone else he told later on, Kate hadn't reacted with congratulations or good-natured teasing.

_Kate sombered, taking a long drink and then setting her glass back down. “DI, huh. Wow.” Ben nodded and looked down at the table, fiddling with a spare coaster. “Correct me if I'm wrong, but that will mean a transfer out of Causton, won't it,” she said slowly._

_“Yup.”_

_“That's tough, Ben… I'm sorry,” Kate said after a long pause, and Ben shrugged. He only looked back up at her when her hand rested on his with a gentle squeeze. “You know, lots of people do make the long distance thing work. And I'm sure Midsomer will need you back sooner or later,” she said with one of her crooked smiles._

Ben hadn't realized until then how much it would help just knowing there was someone he could actually talk to about it all if he needed to. Obviously he had John and Sarah, but he didn't like to dwell on it too much when he was with them, preferring to enjoy his time with them while he still could, in whatever form that time together took. Whether it was just taking Sykes for a walk with one or both of them before heading home or in to work, spending the night together, or anything in between, Ben was content just to be there with them.

They didn't have quite as much sex as they had before, initially for obvious reasons of paternity, more recently because of general exhaustion on Ben’s part, and when Ben did stay the night, it tended to be as much for the company and the simple human comfort of intimacy as anything else. Although after Sarah had gotten confirmation about a month ago that she was already almost a month pregnant, their bedroom activities _had_ seen something of an uptick again.

And as his exam loomed closer, the sex they did have had become notably more… well, Ben would say intense, but that would be an understatement. There had been two evenings in particular that Ben was certain were burned into his memory forever.

One night just a couple weeks ago, he and John had come home after a shared-car workday out on the road and Sarah had been out at a PTA meeting. Ben had only intended to stay briefly, thinking an early night would likely do him some good. And then John had barely given him time to get inside and close the front door before slamming him up against the wall, kissing him to within an inch of his life, and growling “Upstairs, sergeant. _Now._ That's an order.” Fatigue had never disappeared so quickly as it did in the face of the raw desire he'd seen in John's eyes. Even more than that, John had always let Ben initiate that particular dynamic between them in the past. This… this was new, and Ben had liked it.

Ben felt himself flush in the darkness of his bedroom. He hadn't known just how _much_ he would like it.

John had been all over him, first in the shower and then in the bedroom, working Ben over with his lips and tongue and fingering him until Ben had been honest-to-god _begging_ to come. At which point John had ordered Ben onto hands and knees at the edge of the bed, told him he wasn't allowed to touch himself, and then fucked him from behind, hard and fast from the word go, standing next to the bed and ramming his cock down over Ben’s prostate again and again. And as if that alone hadn't been good enough to make Ben lose his mind, John had proceeded to describe in explicit detail what seemed like every single dirty fantasy he'd ever had about Ben since they met. How he wanted to pull over somewhere quiet while they were making the rounds on a case, pin Ben up against the car, and then deepthroat him until he came; wanted to see Ben kneeling on the floor of their office, a hand down his own trousers and John’s come on his face; wanted to bend him over at work and fuck him until he came all over John’s desk; and on and on like that in a low, heated voice, until Ben came untouched for the first time ever, howling facedown into the mattress with his hands fisting in the sheets above his head.

And then, most recently, an entirely different kind of intense. It had been just him and John again last night, Sarah gone to a work dinner of some kind. The whole mood had been a little odd, soft and tender and tinged with something bittersweet, both of them knowing Ben’s exam was in two days and neither of them wanting to think about it. John had been unusually quiet, even for him, unquestionably horny but letting Ben take the lead. They had ended up in bed with Ben straddling John, who reached over for the lube and then just stared at Ben for a moment, his expression strange, before handing Ben the bottle and saying, “Do me.”

Ben had honestly not understood what he meant at first. John had explained early on in the relationship that while he could handle, and very much enjoyed, the occasional finger or two, that was unfortunately his limit. Anything more inevitably left him with uncomfortable repercussions for days or sometimes even weeks afterwards, so he just didn't do it anymore. Ben had never had a problem with that, but it did mean that this time John had really had to spell it out to him before Ben caught on, and even then he'd been hesitant at first.

 _“But… are you_ sure _though? Even with…”_

_“Yes, I'm sure. As I believe I’ve said three times now,” John said, somewhere between exasperated and amused. Then, in a softer tone, “Please, Ben. Let me feel you.”_

John's expression when he said that, his tone, had just about stopped Ben’s heart. He had never seen John look… vulnerable like that before. Ben had been as gentle as he could, thinking back to his own first time with John, getting him as aroused and ready as possible before slicking himself up and carefully pressing into his DCI. It had been one of the most amazing things he'd ever felt, John opening up on him, storm blue eyes on his and John’s soft moans filling his ears as Ben moved in him. Ben had kept his thrusts slow and gentle, not going deep or hard, and he wouldn’t have needed to anyway because the blissful look on John’s face coupled with the unbelievably tight heat of John on his cock was more enough to send him rocketing towards release even faster than he'd expected.

With his eyes locked on John’s, not wanting to blink and miss even a moment of it, a soft “I love you” had fallen from Ben’s lips. He hadn't meant to say it, but it was true, it had been true for a long time now, and Ben didn't know then why he hadn't said it before. John's eyes had widened, his hands had tightened on Ben’s back, and when he had answered “I love you, too” with a hitch in his voice, Ben’s orgasm took him by surprise and he came with a shudder, holding still and feeling himself pumping out inside John, never once taking his eyes off John’s as he did.

After, Ben had been floating in and out of a light doze, John asleep with his head on Ben’s chest and an arm across Ben’s stomach, when Sarah got home and came upstairs to find them. She somehow seemed to know everything that had happened between them the moment she laid eyes on him and John, pausing in the doorway, a soft expression Ben couldn’t quite place at the time flitting across her face, before she came in and leaned down with a gentle kiss for each of them. Ben hadn't been planning to stay the night, and he probably shouldn't have, but he did anyway, just needing to be near the two of them.

Ben sighed, still staring at his ceiling. Now he was not only awake and nervous, he was also a little melancholy _and_ sporting an erection you could hammer nails with. But maybe if he was lucky, a wank would relax him enough to sleep. With that thought, Ben slipped a hand under the sheet, letting his eyes fall shut as he reached down and started working his hand over his cock. Thoughts of John and Sarah filled his mind as he stroked himself, and the fatigue finally started pulling him under as well until the images running through his head were blurred between conscious fantasy and some sort of pleasant dreamlike hallucination.

With a jerk and a grunt, Ben came, spurting up into the sheet and spilling back down onto himself, hot and thick over his hand as he squeezed his cock a few more times to coax out the last pulses of come. Eyes still closed, no longer fully awake, Ben just wiped the worst of it off on the sheet and then rolled over onto his side and away from the large wet patch.

Wrapping his arms around a spare pillow, Ben was almost able to convince his barely conscious mind that he was actually holding John, and he finally drifted off into a fitful sleep.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Unable to sleep, John Barnaby stared at the ceiling, trying to stay quiet and still so that he would at least not keep Sarah awake with him. Ben had left for Brighton yesterday to start his new post as Detective Inspector Jones. He’d had his things shipped over ahead of him, which had been a perfect excuse for him to actually stay with John and Sarah for most of the week, and John had very quickly gotten used to Ben living with them.

A little too used to it, because now Ben was gone, and John was a mess of conflicting emotions that his brain wouldn’t stop trying to analyze over and over, running in circles like a rat trapped in its wheel.

On a professional level, John honestly was extremely proud of how far the newly-minted inspector had come in the two and half years they’d been working together. He had no doubts whatsoever that Ben was going to be an excellent DI, and John had given an absolutely glowing and completely deserved recommendation to that effect following Ben’s exam. He must have had Sarah read over at least ten versions of the letter before he’d been satisfied enough to send it off. Though John was admittedly not looking forward to eventually having a brand new DS assigned to him, having come to rely quite a lot on Ben, that was how it worked and John knew he could deal with it. The fact was, Ben was good at what he did, the CID needed people like him moving up the ranks, and John would sooner cut off his own leg than even _think_ about standing in the way of Ben’s chosen career.

It was the loss of Ben’s near-constant presence in his life that John didn't quite know how to deal with yet. The thought had crossed his mind more than once that everything would have been much easier if Ben just… wasn’t inspector material. But he was, and if he hadn’t been, well, he wouldn’t really be the same person John had fallen in love with anyway. John knew that. He also knew chances were that someday, eventually, a position would open up in Causton and Ben would be able to transfer back if he still wanted to.

None of that knowledge had made today any easier, and John didn’t expect it would help much tomorrow either.

He had spent the whole day in the office either forgetting that Ben wasn’t actually there and turning to talk to him without thinking, or sitting there painfully aware of the empty desk behind him and completely unable to focus. Then at home he’d only gotten moodier as the evening progressed, constantly expecting to see Ben walking in the front door, or joining them at the table for supper, or sitting in the living room with Sarah, and hurting all over again every single time he wasn’t there.

John knew, though it didn’t help at all, that he was being about as rational as a four-year-old. It had only been one day, after all, and it wasn’t as though he and Sarah weren’t used to Ben not being around all the time. John had handled that just fine over the entire year they had been seeing Ben, but it was just… it was suddenly different now. Different because John had no idea when he would actually see Ben again, when he would be able to hold him, kiss him, and fall asleep curled up to his warmth, listening to the sound of his heartbeat. John's chest ached hollowly every time he thought of it, every time he started to fall asleep and then woke up again after reaching out for Ben and finding only empty air.

John kept reminding himself that they had all talked about this, that they would stay in touch and visit whenever they could, that yes, he was going to see Ben again. All three of them had agreed that they didn’t want this to be an end to their relationship, even if they did have to go for months at a time between visits. It would certainly take much more than a little distance before John would even consider giving up on the whole thing, and he knew Sarah felt the same way. The two of them had stayed together through more than one long-distance stint, after all, and that had worked out just fine every time.

But still, John's overtired mind couldn’t help dwelling on the quiet fear that they would drift apart, that Ben would either find it too difficult or not worth it or just plain move on and forget all about him and Sarah. Rather perversely, John also found himself worrying that too much contact would somehow make Ben think that _John_ thought he couldn’t cut it as DI, which couldn’t be farther from the truth.

At one point shortly before Ben had taken the exam, John had, only briefly but more seriously than he would ever admit, actually considered the possibility that if _he_ retired, Causton would have room for a new inspector. He’d discarded the idea almost immediately; had never mentioned it to the other two and never would, knowing full well that neither Ben nor Sarah would ever want John to give up his career any more than John would want either of them to give up theirs.

The hardest thoughts to deal with were the ones that came from the purely selfish part of him that didn't want to think about careers and appearances, that didn’t give a fuck what anyone else knew and cared even less what they thought. The part that wished Ben hadn’t ever been promoted and wanted nothing more than for Ben to stay there with him and Sarah, openly a part of their relationship and the consequences be damned.

John sighed and turned onto his side, to find Sarah looking at him. Maybe he hadn’t been as still and quiet as he’d thought.

“I miss him,” John said, throat so tight he could barely hear his own words.

“I know,” Sarah replied softly, her eyes only half open but full of love and compassion. “So do I… but it will all be all right, you’ll see,” she said with a sleepy smile, stroking her fingers gently over his cheek, the quiet, drowsy certainty in her voice somehow making John feel better, quashing his less rational fears and letting him believe that it would work out. That he would see Ben again before long and everything really would be all right in the end. He just needed to be patient, and trust Ben, and both of those were things John could definitely do.  

Sarah’s hand dropped back down onto the bed between them and John took it in his, just watching her quietly as her eyes closed again. The sound of her breathing slowing and steadying as she fell back to sleep was calming, and it finally soothed John slowly down into a blissful lack of consciousness along with her.

  



	16. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Still a bit spoiler-y*

 

Ben Jones was staring at his computer screen, feeling like he hadn’t slept in a month, when his mobile binged a text alert in his pocket. He fished it out, irritated by yet another interruption, until he saw the name.

Sarah Barnaby.

_Shit._

He'd promised John the other day that he would give them a call to catch up again, and he'd completely forgotten. _That was… was it last week already?_

With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Ben checked his last text to John. _Shit shit shit._ It had been almost three weeks. He rubbed a hand over his mouth and groaned, staring at the screen. _How the fuck did I not notice how long it had been?... Wait, how is it only three days till Christmas?_

He was almost afraid to actually open the message, and just stared at his phone for a minute before finally reading it.

_\- Are you okay? -_

Ben started typing out a quick reply.

_\- Hey, yeah I'm fine. Sorry. Just really busy. -_

He re-read his message and paused, his throat constricting slightly, then erased it again.

“Everything alright, sir?” his DS asked from across their desks.

“What? Oh. Yeah. Just… I'll be right back,” Ben answered, distracted. Grabbing his jacket, he headed for the exit to find some measure of privacy.

Outside, around the corner from the main doors, he finally hit Call. It rang a couple times before picking up on the other end, and Ben’s stomach flickered with nerves.

“Hello, Ben,” Sarah answered, sounding just like she always did, her voice warm and familiar and comforting, and Ben had to swallow hard around the lump that appeared in his already tight throat without warning.

“Sarah, I…” he trailed off, not knowing what to say. He heard Sarah’s gentle sigh over the line.

“Are you doing all right?”

There was silence for a moment before Ben finally answered, scrubbing a hand through his hair.

“No. Not really. It's been… tough. Really busy. And… and I miss you.” His voice broke slightly, knowing she would know he meant both of them, and the rest came out in a rush. “Sarah, I'm so sorry, I meant to call sooner, I really did. Everything just… got away from me,” he said miserably.

“I understand, Ben, I really do. But I worry about you. And I miss you. _John_ misses you. He's…” Sarah paused, and the tight lump spread from Ben’s throat down into his chest. “Well, his new DS just started today, and he’s not handling the transition too well. Call him, Ben,” she said, making it half a question.

“I will. When… when's he usually home these days?”

Ben could hear the wry smile in her voice. “They’re on a case now, so your guess is as good as mine. But I don’t think he’ll care where he is anyway."

Ben swallowed hard again, blinking a little too fast. The… wind must have got into his eyes or something.

“Hey… look, I wanted to tell you, I’m on call over Christmas so I can't leave town then, but I have a full week off right after New Year’s, not on call or anything. I thought, well, I know you’ll probably be pretty busy, but -”

Sarah cut him off gently. “Oh Ben, you know you never even have to ask. Of course we’d love to see you, for as long as you’d like to stay.”

That did it. Ben glanced around, trying to swipe his hand surreptitiously across his eyes, and cleared his throat.

“Right. Well. That’s good then,” he said awkwardly. “I should… I really do have to get back to work.”

“Please take care of yourself, Ben,” Sarah said.

“I - I’ll try,” he answered honestly, because he knew he hadn't been. “...Sarah?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

 

Back at his desk, Ben set a reminder on his phone to call John that evening. He was pretty sure he’d at least remembered to send their card… it should have been in the small stack he’d finally got around to posting last week, but it might not have arrived yet. Ben put his mobile away in his pocket, then reconsidered, taking it back out and adding three more reminders.

He bloody well wasn't going to forget to call this time.

 

A week and a half later, Ben was sitting in his car in front of John and Sarah's house, staring at their front door.

It was strange. He could have sworn he'd been here only yesterday, yet at the same time Ben felt as though he'd been gone for ages. And in reality, it had only been a few months since he'd left for Brighton.

Glancing at his reflection in the rearview mirror, Ben scratched at the stubble on his jaw, wincing slightly at how tired he looked, even to his own eyes. Work really had been almost chaotically busy since he'd started, and he had worked way too late last night, wanting to be sure that absolutely everything was taken care of before he left for the week. He'd overslept this morning, and hadn't taken the time to do anything more before leaving than throw a few changes of clothes into a bag and down a coffee on his way out the door, too eager to bother wasting time with mundane things like shaving and breakfast.

But for some reason, now that he was finally here, he was just waiting in the car instead of going in. Ben couldn't help laughing a little at himself as he realized he was nearly as nervous and excited as he had been the very first time, on that gorgeous autumn day he didn't think he would ever forget. Only a year and a bit had passed since then, but it seemed like a lifetime ago. In a way, he supposed it was.

Ben finally gave himself a little shake, then got out of the car and grabbed his bag from the backseat. Both cars were in the drive, so Sarah and John should both be home. Ben headed up the front walk and knocked at the door, smiling as he heard Sykes bark excitedly from inside, familiarity settling onto him like a warm blanket.

And then the front door opened, and they were both there. As Ben closed the door behind him and dropped his bag on the floor, John and Sarah pulled him into a tight hug without a word. Ben returned it fiercely, his eyes burning and his throat tight, for once not even caring that he was completely failing at blinking back tears.

He was home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a second... stupid wind in my eyes again. *clears throat*
> 
> Soooo there you have it, apparently my way of dealing with -OH MY GOD WHAT NO BEN IS GONE AND HE DIDN'T EVEN GET A GOODBYE EPISODE NOOO ;___; - is to write a whole bunch of porn, and then cap it off with all of the feels.
> 
> Full disclosure, I had actually intended for this to NOT go full OT3, it was supposed to be more along the lines of 'Isn't this a lovely, sexy little event in all their lives, and Ben gets to know himself a little better, and then they all happily go their separate ways and stay friends.' (Well, John was always going to have a slightly tougher time of it but not *too* bad.)
> 
> But yeah, and then they went and fell in love on me, and I was like... Oh. Hmm. Guess I'll just go ahead and make myself cry a little more then, shall I.
> 
> Anyway, I hope no one is disappointed by the direction I took or the ending or anything. I leave it up to you to decide if everything does work out for them or not... 
> 
> As usual, I'd love to hear any and all thoughts! 
> 
> Thanks for coming along for the ride ♡
> 
> -xx


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